The end is in sight.
Last week turned into a six-day weekend on account of the rain and the boss's surgery. But here we are again. This week promises to be something very different. The boss phoned me up last Friday and had a favor to ask-- I agreed. So tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday the foreman and I are headed out of state to a big Fruit and Vegetable exposition and trade show. Not getting paid, but the boss is covering all my arrangements-- tickets, classes and everything.
There's a lot to do and see-- the boss picked out a bunch of seminars he thinks would give my agricultural education a kick in the ass. Tomorrow morning I have Soil I: a biology focused class on the components of dirt/optimal composition for various crops/lectures on ideal conditions for maximum nutrient absorbency (from ground to veggie). Then in the afternoon is Soil II: a master class in dirt-- focused on emerging methods and technologies/ maximizing a field's soil potential. The following days I'm lined up for courses on Agricultural Machinery, Braccae (mis-spelled, but the broccoli/cauliflower/kale) vegetable family, Root vegetables (the boss wants to figure out carrots and improve out beets) and many other subjects. Each class is about 3 hours-- eheheh, it's gonna be a long day.
After the class room fun there is a large exposition space with hundreds of companies showing. The boss has a laundry list of booths we need to visit-- he wants catalogs and notes from each. Lots of work, but the whole affair seems pretty exciting-- what a way to end the year.
I'm meeting the foreman in a restaurant parking lot tomorrow at sunrise. Then off we go.
On to today.
Mostly cloudy skies, temperature hovered around 33F.
The boss is still recovering from his operation, so Newport has been on call as personal chauffeur. The two of 'em set off early to buy a load of shingles and roofing nails-- the foreman and I fired up the tractor and rolled around the horse pasture collecting stray firewood.
We all met up at the boss's house. Newport and I had stripped the rotten shingles last Monday, so today was all about hammers and nails. The job was made infinitely easier since the house is built mostly underground/into a hill-- we could walk straight up the lawn onto the roof.
We banged away all day, morning till after dark (surprisingly I smashed my thumbs more in the daylight). Only a tiny 5ft by 9ft section remains-- Newport will brush that off tomorrow.
After packing away the tools the foreman and I sat around the kitchen table with the boss, discussing tomorrow. He read over our itineraries and gave the foreman a blank check to cover the expenses. Afterward we walked back to our cars through the onion fields. I remember thinking about the season-- the past month has been staggered/ miserable work, but those summer days. Those summer days with endless things to do, berries, tomatoes, greens and potatoes-- Bah and the whole Guatemalan gang-- you almost forget how good it can be. Endless work, a hundred things that can never all get done. I wish it was May or June or August again.
The foreman told me story of the boss and his brothers-- I could hardly believe it. But that's for another day.
I have lots to get in order for tomorrow, and then early bed. It's gonna be a good long week.
Take it easy.
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