We are up at the orange grove with two sets of out of town friends: Jan and Richard Davies from Wales and Jared Tredway from Texas. This is a treat in itself since these are folks who appreciate the rustic charm of the grove. It also gave us the chance to be here when the pickers arrived to strip our trees of all the ripe oranges (the green ones are in mid growth). Here are photos of Rich and Jan plus the pickers, who arrived promptly at 6:30 am.
The pickers were a lively group, chatting from one tree to the other as they worked. One sang as he picked. Another brought a boom box and had happy Latin music playing. They smiled as I snapped their pictures. A big truck came and gathered up the large white boxes full of oranges headed to Sunkist. A neighbor visited and remarked, “Your trees are beautiful.” Overall, a positive event.
We have had a lovely and relaxed time. Tomorrow it is back to LA for me, off to San Luis Obispo for the Welsh and the continuation of a project here in Ojai for Ray and Jared.
I am grateful to have such a refuge to share with family and friends. What a gift.
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