Starting my morning on the farm

Morning at Mauna Kea Tea starts early as if every farmer is born under the same destiny to get up early and work. The days are getting shorter and the growing season is getting closer to the end, yet warm days and never ending loads of work await me. Am I just putting too much on my plate?

Walking through the tea fields, I can't help noticing the tasks waiting to be done. so I do a few things as I walk down the hill as if it gives me any contentment of actual work being done. In the end realizing that it is not just a few plants that needs attention, but thousands.

Why did I choose the hillside to farm? Why did I have to make it so much more inefficient?

For the amount of extra work that goes in, is it really worth it?

Only people saying, "You've done so much work. Your farm is looking beautiful," further continue my labor intensive farm landscape. Does it really matter how the farm looks in regard to how it tastes?

Maybe it does. Having the image of the farm where the tea is grown while sipping the tea, it gives some strange feeling of connectedness to the beautiful landscape and enhanced appreciation for the cup.

Exchanging a few words with one of the plants that I happen to see each other, I am reminded that I am happy to be a farmer.

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