Working in Napier
I'm home early from the orchard today, so I have time to post really quick. I've been in Napier for about two weeks now. I have a job as an apple picker - a completely new working experience for me. It's certainly a change from office work.
It's funny, because I've read about field work in books before - like in The Grapes of Wrath when they're working in a peach orchard, or in On the Road when Sal Paradise is picking cotton. And they always manage to make it sound kind of romantic. You know, an honest day's work, tilling the earth, out in the wind and the sun and everything. But those books never seem to convey exactly how tired you get by the end of the day. I know that I might have guessed it earlier, but apple picking is really really hard work. I needed to experience it for myself before I would believe it.
The orchards are rather pretty, especially in the morning. There's one place that we go to a couple times a week, that has a little river winding through it, and tall poplar trees bordering the orchard blocks, and even a resident flock of peacocks (they're good for eating bugs, apparently). We were there today, and it looked as nice as ever, but the picking wasn't very good - almost all the good apples way up at the top, requiring going up and down ladders all day, and for all that we'd only get half a bucket per tree.
There is a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day, I have to admit. And dinner always tastes fantastic no matter what it is, and I'm certainly sleeping really well these days. It's a good experience and I'm glad I'm doing it. But I will be happy when I'm finished.
It's funny, because I've read about field work in books before - like in The Grapes of Wrath when they're working in a peach orchard, or in On the Road when Sal Paradise is picking cotton. And they always manage to make it sound kind of romantic. You know, an honest day's work, tilling the earth, out in the wind and the sun and everything. But those books never seem to convey exactly how tired you get by the end of the day. I know that I might have guessed it earlier, but apple picking is really really hard work. I needed to experience it for myself before I would believe it.
The orchards are rather pretty, especially in the morning. There's one place that we go to a couple times a week, that has a little river winding through it, and tall poplar trees bordering the orchard blocks, and even a resident flock of peacocks (they're good for eating bugs, apparently). We were there today, and it looked as nice as ever, but the picking wasn't very good - almost all the good apples way up at the top, requiring going up and down ladders all day, and for all that we'd only get half a bucket per tree.
There is a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day, I have to admit. And dinner always tastes fantastic no matter what it is, and I'm certainly sleeping really well these days. It's a good experience and I'm glad I'm doing it. But I will be happy when I'm finished.