Stay in Florida

Stay in Florida

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Here is a trailer that they use to move the juice orange tubs. It is nicest when they have about 30 tubs for each crew so that each crew member has two tubs (and isn't delayed waiting for his only tub to be emptied). It was like that at Orange Avenue, but often I only had one tub at Granada Ranch where there were two crews in the one grove and a shared loader and tubs.... Overall, I got about $4 an hour when actaully picking fruit. Less than minimum wage especially if you consider the large amount of time riding to and from the grove and waiting (before and after picking). I could have complained, but they just would have let me go (as promised). Louis fudged on the hours so that it appeared that I made better than minimum wage, which was fine with me as I wanted to get the experience. However, it is certainly hard work and the pay is never very good.
After getting my last tub on my last day I wandered into the next grove which was a pink grapefruit grove (and had been spot picked for packing fruit). I was getting a few grapefruit to take back with me to my mother and brother in Texas when I noticed this baby lizard on a fallen fruit. Or is that an aligator or even a dinosaur on a giant grapefruit? Who is to know?
Here is one of my friends (I never learned his name) picking fruit. In many cases citrus fruit will grow on stems that can be up to a foot long. So, once you pick a fruit, all the others can start bouncing around as the limb springs back. I never appreciated that toy with a ball on a string attached to a cup at the end of a stick, but after watching the oranges bounce around and trying to grab the next fruit, it seemed to make a lot of sense.
Here are two of my friends, Jesus and Louis (not the crew leader, but same name) taking a break at the end of the day as we waited for the other crew members to finish up their last tub. We left the grove earlier than usual, about 4:30PM. Jesus was having a tough time with his hands (may have been numbness due to carpal tunnel syndrome which was bothering me as well) and he only got three tubs that day as well. Oh well, they will probably not work the next day (Sunday). My disk was full and this was my last picture before heading to Texas on November 18, 2001.