Daffodil Season!

This time of year in Washington is wet and windy, with a few, random day of glorious sunshine and warm breezes.

One thing you need to know about living in Seattle: Take advantage of the nice days. They don't come often in the spring and if you don't get out and play on the dry days, you just might grow mold spots.

The rain, however, gives birth to some glorious scenery. Right now, the daffodils are beginning to bloom in my yard, and the tulips are also pushing their way up. This time of year always makes me think of my first job as a teenager when I worked in the daffodil fields in Puyallup.

It seemed like such a romantic job! Picking flowers in the spring sunshine! What a perfect job for after school and on weekends!

Little did I know what back breaking work it was. They were days filled with standing in mud puddles up to my shins, rain running down my plastic raincoat filling my rubber boots with water. The rows of daffodils seemed endless and the breaks spent in a dripping shack on the side of the fields were not much of an improvement.

The girls all worked in a rows next to each other, competing to see who could finish first. The trick was, if you worked too fast, everyone was angry with you, but if you worked too slow, others had to help finish up your work. A lose lose situation. I figured since I was fast with my hands, I may as well be one of the workers who helped the others finish up, and at least gain the gratitude of those I helped, along with the recognition of those in charge. This resulted in me being hired to come back for tulip season (a little less rainy) and then iris season (getting warm!) and then bulb cleaning at the end of the summer (awfully hot, dusty, and dirty). Eventually I was offered a job working in the packing barns, loading and sorting the flowers to be shipped around the world. This was a definite step up, as we could listen to the radio and the owners occasionally brought Big Mac's for everyone at the end of a shift. The part I liked best about this was watching the others girls head out to the fields: I was not gloating, mind you, I was just truly grateful not to be joining them!

I'm glad I had this job. I like the stories that grow out of it and I still have some fun memories of working in the fields with the other girls on nice days. I love tulips and daffodils to this day, although at the time I thought I'd be happy to neve see another flower!

What I like most about it, though, is that I had to work hard. I had to use my hands and my body to get something done that others just decided was too much effort. I learned to enjoy the challenge of it and to be proud that I could do it well. I don't know that my girls will be working at 15, and definately not to provide the basics that my parents would not, but I want them to have something like this in their adolescence. Something that they think they cannot do, but discover that the can. Something that is not fun, easy, or entertaining, yet something that gives them a sense of self, and a sense of pride in their ability to work.