Euphoria, or Not?

Today marks the end of my first week on the Farm.  Throughout the week I have experienced highs and lows, positive thoughts and negative thoughts, frustrations and satisfactions, as well as other mixed feelings.  As I stepped out of my car on the  farm last Sunday I was greeted by a bright-eyed, smiling woman, who happily showed me around her farm.  We hopped on the golf cart and drove past their seven fields, down the roads lined with lemongrass and eucalyptus.  Every growing thing we passed she had an explanation of why it was chosen, and why it was planted in its particular spot.  I picked my first vegetable – a perfect yellow squash.  We drove over to the water hole, where her husband was sitting in a chair watching their two boys splash around in the water.  Their laughter was rejuvenating, and his peacefulness had a calming effect.  The sun was shining in a perfect blue sky, humidity was low, and the temperature sat at a pleasant 85 degrees.  My initial view of the farm was euphoric (or perhaps that’s because I’m an idealist, and I tend to romanticize things).  After five days of hardcore physical labor, I won’t say that my euphoric view has been highly tainted, but it has certainly shifted.  Each day I wake up at 5:30 and am hard at work my 7.  I witness the sun rise at 7:20 each day, and will see it rise every work day for the next eight months.  Sunrises on the farm are spectacular - the horizon is devoid of any and all obstructions.  I never thought I’d say it, but I now look forward to the rising of the sun – no wonder so many songs reference this daily event.  I was not naïve in thinking that farm work was easy and simple, but I was surprised at just how hard and complicated it is.  I’ve only just begun to have these realizations, and I look forward to many more.  Another week begins tomorrow, and my body has just about recovered from last week.  My body was stiff, my back ached, two blisters developed on my right hand, and I am positive that I will have permanent dirt under my fingernails for the next eight months.  I’m sure my back will be stiff again by tomorrow afternoon, after stooping over tables seeding hundreds of trays.  I don’t mind, however, because we are, in fact, physical beings, and I enjoy putting my being to good use.  I helped plant thousands of seeds this week, and I look forward to watching them spring from the earth and develop into beautiful vegetables, at which point they will be harvested and sold at the markets.