The 5 jobs of SWANSEA

Job #1: Picking Peppers:
in 3 hours I picked 12 buckets of peppers and learned that rotten bell peppers have an explosive property beyond my enjoyment and grew in appreciation and admiration for the blood and sweat of the underdogs that formed our country. I find myself with a new impulse when passing field workers to run out gifting them with cool water, ipods to sing along to, hugs of gratitude, and massages for their aching backs.

Job #2: Gardener
For those of you who may not know this about me, I see and understand the world through a mess of metaphors. So this is a warning and a-head-of-time apology for any sappy sentiments that take over this blog that may or may not make any sense to the normal working of the mind. Some metaphors flowered during my time as a gardiner that I will wait to explicate on later, but needless to say life lessons and self understandings occurred.

Job #3: Personal Driver:
Got the opportunity to drive my uncle to and from work chasing thunder and lightning storms along the way. I learned that he works for a gun company owned by Belgium but has the US as one of its main distributors transporting guns to all those beautiful war torn countries....glad to know my family is playing a hand in the political strife or political freedom (depending on your angle) of others.

Job #4: Caretaker
I came home from my whirlwind road trip to Durham to my 93 yr old grandmother and her 93 yr old sister in law sitting around the kitchen having a late night snack of homemade slightly burned rice pudding and sharing stories about the good 'ol days, also known as the great depression.  I spent the night and sat with Melva Sunday and soaked in every story from her 90 lb frame experiencing muscle spasms working a job in the airforce building engines in order to be close to her romance, teaching herself Spanish so she could work as the only Spanish teacher at the local high school, and managing a traveling theater. She could have paid me in stories and I would have been more than happy.

Job #5: Being my Aunt Peggy
This job put back breaking, humidly sticky pepper picking to shame. My aunt wears many hats; property manager, produce picker, house cleaner, pool boy, driver, gardener, and chef to just begin the list. I took on her wardrobe when she went out of town and have a whole new respect and fascination for all she does. I walked away from this job mastering the riding lawn mower, perfecting the Ph balance of pools, and quality story time with grandma...priceless.

the following pics are of the tree house my sister, cousin and I spent a summer building in my grandmas woods...lots of sweat, banged thumbs and dreams occurred here.