"I get to ride in the van!" Karen bubbled, bounding out of The Office leaving myself, Jen, and Jessica in the wake of her cheerful outburst. The three of us glanced at each other for several awkward moments, shrugged, and followed her out the door, albeit with somewhat less enthusiasm.
Karen had gone out. It was to be our Service Learning day, when we would finally get to learn about Gullah culture, John's island, strawberry farming, anything that had struck her as being even remotely educational, she had had on her list. Full of optimism and cheer, Karen was rearing to go. We hated to burst her bubble.
No one wanted to tell her that she couldn't come in the van. Not only is it against policy (For insurance reasons, you understand), but all the seats were full to the brim with AmeriCorps team Gold 4. A dark cloud crossed her face when she realized that, in fact, she would have to take her own car instead of the Mystery Machine, but this was quickly replaced with a smile, and she asked who would accompany her. Jessica bravely volunteered, and ventured forth into the unknown world of Karen's Car.
All of us were looking forward to the day. We had been talking about it for several days, actually. Karen had given us updates on where she planned to take us, what we were to do, everything was ready to go. Karen pulled out of the parking lot in front of the barn and we followed, eager to begin our day. We were not disappointed. Oh, wait, scratch that, we were.
The first stop was at a Tea plantation, one of the few remaining Tea plantations in the United States, as a matter of fact. We didn't actually know that she was going to take us there (We thought we were going straight to berry picking), so were a little surprised when we saw her slow down in the middle of the road at a gate that looked nothing like the gate to a berry field. Bemused, we watched as she sped back up and fled off down the road. We followed her, and soon came to a parking lot near a river with a big sign saying "SHRIMP!" There we all piled out of the van to see what surprises Karen had in store for us. She told us about the tea plantation, and how we were supposed to go, but that it had been closed. But that was ok, 'cause there were lots of other things to do that day. Uh, except for watching the shrimping boats like we were supposed to; we had missed them too. Undeterred, we packed up again and hit the road.
The next stop was at Johnny's house. Johnny worked with us on a couple of the houses; he himself was getting ready to move into one of them as soon as it was finished. We were stunned by the place he lived in. It wasn't decrepit, only a little run down. We audibly gasped when we saw the room with the concave floor. All of us except Vicky, that is. She had found several friends in a Chicken coop in the back yard. On our way out, Johnny's wife introduced us to the chicks living on the porch, and we lost Vicky for another couple of minutes while she fawned over the cute creatures. Seeing the house gave us all a boost; it showed us just how important the work we were doing really was.
The next stop was (Finally!) the strawberry field. Karen greeted us at the door of the van with Habitat hats, to protect our delicate noggins from the harsh ways of the mid-morning sun. We grabbed out pails and our bags and headed out into the field. We found some nice strawberries. It started a little slow, meandering up the rows snagging all the best looking berries, but we were following in the footsteps of everyone else who had been through the place, and most of the really excellent picks were already gone. Until Karen stumbled upon the Secret Patch. Off the beaten path, the Secret Patch was a haven for the biggest, juiciest, most succulent strawberries I have ever had the pleasure of eating. And eat I did, in large quantities. One in the bucket, one in the mouth. One in the bucket, two in the mouth. Repeat. And I forgot all about the sun blistering the skin on my arms and raining down beads of sweat all over my face. I didn't take long to pick our fill, and we took our berries to the register, to get them out of the place. Fully armed with a fruit arsenal, we hopped back in the van to see what was next.
It turned out to be lunch, which was kind of anticlimactic. But we did get strawberries with yogurt to compliment our galley-made meals. Nothing beats a veggie-pita garnished with strawberries. After lunch, it was back to the ol' grind; real work. Unfortunately, none of us were all that motivated anymore; no one wants to work after a morning of fun.
Yes, that was a long time ago. Now the project is behind us and we look ahead to adventures in Tennessee. But we'll always have the memories. And those few berries in the bottom of our refrigerators that we just couldn't bring ourselves to eat.
Karen took us down, and we all went to Strawberry Fields
Berries, cheep deal,
But nothing to write home about.
Strawberry fields forever
Eating is hard with sticky hands,
Just pop in one or two or three.
There always are some ones that can't help but stand out,
And I'll just eat each one I see.
Karen took us down, and we all went to Strawberry Fields
Berries, cheep deal,
But nothing to write home about.
Strawberry Fields forever
We filled our pails up all way,
Though some were very high or low.
Jen's bucket overflowed and a few fell out
I think I saw them roll away
Karen took us down, and we all went to Strawberry Fields
Berries, cheep deal,
But nothing to write home about.
Strawberry Fields forever
Eating, no guzzling, the strawberry,
But you know I ate a few too many
I think I know I'll take 'em home, put 'em in my fridge,
They'll make a great snack for me.
Karen took us down, and we all went to Strawberry Fields
Berries, cheep deal,
But nothing to write home about.
Strawberry Fields forever.
Strawberry Fields forever.