Shears, and Machetes, and Weed Whackers...Oh My!

As some of you know I was becoming a bit bored with the sorting of the coffee beans which has been my primary task this last week. Hungry to dig my hands in the earth, the word came today that I would be weeding. You can only imagine how excited I was at the prospect of working in the field, sweating under the Kona sun. So why is it that the boys always get to use the fun tools? Joe being the chosen one here at the farm saddled up and strapped on the weed whacker. To be honest I am a bit afraid of weed whackers anyway. See my last experience with one was in grade school when my best friend, Jaime Rimer, decided to shave her leg with one. My reluctancy to see that all over again made it pretty easy for me to step aside and let Joe have all the fun. I instead, grabbed my handy pruning shears and set out for the field. I took to weeding aroud the coffee trees and unraveling any vines that had decided to try and choke the trees. I also had to cut down any Ti plants that I came across. For this task I got to use a machete, granted a much smaller version than the one Joe uses, but still a machete. I found that I was so afraid of hurting myself that the pruning shears worked much better. It was a great day despite my forgetting sunscreen until after lunch and my many falls onto the treacherous lava. Luckily only a rooster saw me. I quickly realized it helps to carry a stick to break the thousands of spider webs you walk into, it's near impossible to dig your hands into the earth when that earth is lava, and I now know just how big 5 acres is. We were rained out and as the earth is replenished here I can't help but think about how I have been restored as well. It's amazing what using sharp intruments will do for your soul.