The farm does not have internet. Jon and I are wifi-ing it up at the Temecula Public Library, which is where we will spend the majority of our one-day-a-week-off.
The farm DOES have four yucky alpacas, 17 cute chickens, 1 lame rooster, a promise of 28 ordered guiena fowl (how do you spell that?), a squirrel problem, roving coyotes, rattlesnakes, lizards, rats, mountain lions, and lots of other things that make me scared to go outside at night.
The farm also has passion fruit, guavas, persimmons, pomegranates, limes, lemons, grapefruit, macadamia nuts, oranges, not to mention the usual vegetables. And avacado season starts in December. I can't wait.
The days are long, starting around 6:30 or 7:00 and ending around 5:00, with an hour for lunch. I spent the majority of this week raking leaves from under the macadamia trees so that when the nuts fall we can collect them without digging through 2 feet of leaves. I never want to touch a rake again. (But I will be tomorrow, because we still have at least 40 trees to go.)
Jon and I have the Master Suite at the brand-new intern house (brand-new meaning we slept on the floor for the first 3 nights until our mattress arrived) and a really great housemate, David from Louisiana who just graduated from Virginia State University.
The leader of the interns is Jason, who graduated from IUPUI Fort Wayne a year or two ago, played professional volleyball in Europe until two months ago when his sponsorship ran out, and says both "dude" and "bro" a lot. Just imagine Jamie Utt on a lot of pot. And without all the political correctness. He's taking some getting used to.
Jason's dad, Lance, is the "manager," although I'm not sure exactly what he does other than drink a whole pot of coffee every morning, talk about his old Navy days (that's the branch of the U.S. military, not the clothing store) or the time he smoked, snorted, and injected speed for an entire week while living in various bars, and shoot at various things on the property, like squirrels.
Finally we have Cuco, the Mexican farm hand who's been working here for 2 years and knows everything there is to know about fruit and nut trees. I love him, even though he thinks this isn't a good job for me and that I should go back to school as soon as possible.
So, that's my California life so far. Sorry I've been out of contact so long! I miss you all dearly. Especially when I'm living with 5 manly men--I need some girls in my life!!! Or at least cable so that I can watch Glee once a week. Anybody else love that show?
P.S. My new address is:
2120 Rainbow Glen Rd.
Rainbow, CA 92028
