Journeys…
Returning to Hawaii after graduating from IU was a bit confusing; I had a degree, I had youth, I had exuberance…but now what!? I guessed I needed to find a job, but I was having too much fun.
Eventually though, Mamo Traders, a low-key hardware store decided that I was decent enough to employ. It was one of those “home-town, dark-backroom” mom & pop establishments from old-time Hilo that had its loyal clientele return time and time again because it was a place they could find the tool the needed. The many items on the dusty shelves and in the cabinets were “old school” tools that would be difficult to find today, or very expensive if you found one…specifically the Japanese engineered ones.
Unlike the well-lit, glitzy, items-bulging-off-the-shelf, can’t-find-someone-to-help, big box warehouses that prevail today, the owner and his son were carpenters, also “old school”, so many newbie carpenters came in for advice. It was very different place to be.
Working in hardware was not quite the goal of graduating from college, I was ready to make my degree worth the effort of years of study. An item in the classifieds caught my eye one day, it advertised for an assistant crop manager on a tomato farm; I was looking for “Forest Ranger” but I settled for “Tomato Farmer”.
The farm was in Glenwood, 20 miles out of Hilo, and 5 miles up a one lane road into the middle of an Ohia forest. Work started at 6:30 am, that meant hitting the road by 5:15 am, and thinking back, I wish I was more into photography back then; the scenic drive, the forest, the sunrises, the colors and shades of the sky throughout the day provided a beautiful palette from which to draw inspiration.
I was the “field eyes” for the head crop manager, I wandered through the rows and rows of tomato vines, twenty-one, 1-acre hothouses in all, actually putting my degree to work. I looked for pests, change and development in the vines and fruit, counted blossoms, then recommended spraying and nutrition (fertilizing), and estimated crop production. The cool, crisp mornings were like being in a refrigerator and sometimes while doing my rounds, I would find and pick the perfect tomato; not too ripe, not too green…just the right age… The satisfying crunch, the slightly sweet with a tang of a tart, savory bite into the fruit was “choice”!
But, four months later, after 30 days of rain and cold, the tomatoes decided to revolt. They didn’t like the constant cold and rain, the neighbors that moved in (leaf borers, tobacco mold, moisture), and the winds that tore their home. Less tomatoes meant less work, and less work meant less staff, and less staff…well, you get it.
Ninety days of unemployment was great, unfortunately, I didn’t get all of it…it was 30 days in when I met Al Sakai at a supermarket. Al was the Scouting professional in Hilo at the time and we knew each other since I was a volunteer. One week later, I had a position with Aloha Council, BSA.
