Cool Hand Luke

Ever seen the film "Cool Hand Luke"? I recommend it. It contains several amazing scenes. In one, we get this bit of classic dialog:

Luke: I can eat fifty eggs.
Someone else says: Nobody can eat fifty eggs.

Okay, I guess you have to see the film. In any case, there's a scene where Luke and a bunch of men on the chain gang are laying down a road, in the heat, and the everyone is grumpy and moving slowly just hating what they're being forced to do. All of sudden Luke starts going like a mad man, tossing gravel down as fast as he can. Everyone joins in and they're suddenly enjoying it. Hootin' and hollerin' and getting a thrill out of the intensity of everything.

Well, today was nothing like that. No no, I'm kidding. Today was very much like that, minus the Luke. As a group we just settled into this incredible rhythm of work. Transplanting, like yesterday. Only today it seemed to go at a quicker, more consistent, and energetic pace. We were planting with a wider spacing (every 12 inches, and sometimes 18 inches, rather than yesterday's 6 inches), and sometimes we'd only plant two rows per bed instead of three. That really made things cook.

But more so I think it was just that we all knew what we were going to be doing, and so we relaxed into it and decided to "give 'er", rather than be so concerned about how much our back or legs hurt, etc. Or maybe this is just my experience of the day, and everyone else experienced it entirely differently. I'll have to ask.

In any case, a great day. As I say, we planted all of the brassicae (Cabbage, Broccoli, Kolhrabi, and Pak Choi), plus parsley, I think. Maybe something else too. I spent part of the afternoon baking blueberry muffins for tomorrows CRAFT day (it's a pot luck lunch at one of the CRAFT farms -- more on this tomorrow). We also layed out drip line for the brassicae and floating row cover.

I have to say I'm still coming down from the buzz of today. I think I really enjoy sustained hard work with a fast pace. It's also great to be digging around in the dirt all day. My hands, arms, and face were dark brown with dust this evening. Leslie and I noted that our cuticles have disappeared or are disappearing from our hands -- likely getting ground (get it?) away by the earth as we continually jam our hands into it.