Working together with my father

Last night at midnight, there was heavy rain, ending the hot and dry weather from the day before. Today, it was very hot and dry again. Thankfully, the electricity stayed on all day, so we kept the ceiling fan, desk fan, and air filter all running to cool down the house. We came home a bit late, around 3:30 p.m., because my wife had a meeting at her school. Like yesterday, I planned to continue weeding the pineapple area, as there was still a lot of ground to cover.

Before starting, I had a snack of hot chocolate, some biscuits, and a some banana for an energy boost. Lila joined me again in the pineapple field. I didn’t see our two male dogs, Kokot and Lomu. I thought maybe they were off visiting female dogs at a nearby house, about 400 meters away, since it’s still mating season. I called for them, but there was no response. They usually don’t come back during this season.

I began my small project in the evening. I brought along a very ripe papaya that I harvested a few days ago. Today, I planned to eat it as a snack after tiring myself out with weeding. That was the plan, but funny enough, I completely forgot to eat it! Maybe I just forgot? Haha, as they say, forgetfulness comes with age.

One of the challenges with weeding is dealing with the thorns, which are tough and deep-rooted. I dug up each thorn from the roots and threw them away. I planned to weed two rows of pineapples today, just like I did yesterday, but I had only done half when my dad came over. He needed my help to clean up the pond area. It's an abandoned pond area. He once told me about his plan to try filling the pond with water again. I told him I’d help however I could.

I didn’t refuse his request; it’s rare for me to work on the farm with him, especially since he’s 73 years old but still very strong. I’m grateful for that. My father is someone who really loves gardening, and he rarely asks for help. I think maybe I inherited that trait from him. I left the pineapple area and went to the pond, which used to hold water but dried up. We think the soil there is too loose and absorbs the water. My dad had already cut the grass and sprayed herbicide, so he wanted my help to gather the dry grass in the pond and burn it. He plans to clean the pond completely before refilling it to see if we can find a solution to prevent water loss.

It took us about an hour to gather the grass, burn it, and watch the fire to make sure it didn’t spread. We had a water tank ready just in case. The work went smoothly, and we finished before dark. I washed my long socks and gloves and hoped to have time to continue the work in the pineapple area tomorrow.