Sacha came in after his first day of hard work. He was sweaty, dirty, tired and very angry. He looked at me and nearly sneered, “Mom, I didn’t come to California to work under a rice bin! I wanted to learn about farming. I thought I was going to drive a truck or tractor or do something interesting. I am not learning anything under a bin.”
I stared at his innocence, shook my head knowingly and said, “The three most important things you need to learn about farming you are learning under the rice bins,
1) Farming is a thankless job.
2) You must be self motivated. Because most of the work you do, you do by yourself and for hours unending.
3) You will get dirty.
After nearly two months of working under a rice bin, Sacha seems to have passed a right of passage. He feels he is doing something useful, and part of a bigger team. He wears dirt like an badge of honor. He even has asked about next summer and if he can be part of farming by cleaning the rice bins.
Leave a Reply