One thing that stood out to me was that all the other WWOOFers before me, about seven in total, went home from their WWOOFing project before their actual departure date. Maybe the work was too much for them or they were too discouraged, but Kelly and the other older men and women in the area all shared the same sentiment: the younger generation knew less and less about hard work. 

I met a man named Dick Jones, an incredibly funny and talkative old man. Probably around seventy, Dick told me about how he used to hire younger farm hands to help with harvests, but after a simple half hour of work, they ran out of juice. 

During a conversation with Dick, Kelly, and me, Kelly lauded me that I was doing hard work and that I would be the first WWOOFer to stay the entire duration that I had stated. I was pretty proud at that point, but admittedly a few days prior to that, I had thought about leaving early too.

 I did not want to deal with the boredom of a five day period without Kelly because that meant no building and no projects. 

It was also after a day of hard work and mental discipline. I did not wear a hat, so when I was out in the sun with the flies and deer flies, my mind began to spin into anger and frustration. I had to screw in nails and move very heavy woodwork so afterwards I was exhausted. 

I called it a day, went into the house, and began texting my sister about how I really wanted to go home. The pending boredom and the frustration of a day’s work was killing me, but my sister encouraged me to stay (also the $200 flight cancellation was too much haha). 

It was through this trip that I learned blue collar workers have it very difficult. Not only is their pay low, but their work is both mental and physical, whereas white collar workers have mostly mental work. I grew a respect for the men that built things with their hands and at the same time I felt proud of myself of having proven to myself that I could last the entire four weeks and do hard work through a lot of it.

I will leave the rest of the trip up to the imagination. I really admire what John did in his Gospel, when he wrote “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did.” I share the same sentiment and even though I am in no way as extraordinary like Jesus, Jesus gave me an extraordinary journey in Colorado that I was able to grow and be shaped by. Thank you Jesus.

                                       The End!

 

  还有一件事是我后来才知道的。在我来之前，已有七位WWOOF会员来这里体验过生活，但非常遗憾的是，课题还未完成，他们就纷纷提前打道回府了。原因无非是嫌这里劳动强度太大，或者自然条件令他们沮丧。每当凯利与当地上了年纪的长者谈论起此事时，他们纷纷摇头叹息，现在的年轻人吃不得苦。

  我遇见一位名叫迪科琼斯的老头，年龄七十岁左右，特能逗闷子，超级爱说话。迪科告诉我，他曾经招聘过一些身强力壮的年轻人来帮忙秋收，结果这帮人才干了半个小时，就累倒爬不起来了。

  有一次，我与迪科、凯利闲聊。凯利赞扬了我，说我不但勤劳，还能吃苦，是至今为止第一个坚持留下来没有当逃兵的年轻人。对于凯利的称赞，我也颇感自豪。要知道，就在凯利夸赞我的前几天，我曾经动过念头，希望能想早点离开这个鬼地方。

  那天，凯利有事出门，有五天时间不在家。他没有给我派什么具体的活，这让我的生活变得异常无聊和寂寞。

  有一天，我照例出去做活。我没戴草帽，外面骄阳似火，苍蝇和鹿蝇在我身边嗡嗡乱飞。没坚持多久，我便感到头晕目眩，情绪开始变得越来越坏，心情也随之变得越来越沮丧。我用手把螺丝拧紧，把沉重的木头拖到一边去，直到干得精疲力尽。

  干完了一天的活，我拖着疲惫的身躯回到房间，马上给远在加州的妹妹发了封短信，告诉她我受够了，实在想回家了。这种生活令我厌倦，枯燥无聊的劳动正在消磨我的意志。可是我妹妹却鼓励我坚持留下来（临时改机票行程的话，要200美元的罚款，实在太贵了）。

  正是这次的山区之旅，让我体会到了蓝领阶层劳动者的艰辛。他们不仅工资待遇低廉，更重要的是要承受过于繁重的身心负荷。而白领阶层就不同了，他们绝大多数时候，只需用脑工作就可以了。

  我尊重那些用双手创造财富的人，同时我也为自己自豪，我用行动证明了自己，我终于坚持了下来，整整四个星期。而且。我通过自身的努力和学习，学到了许多实实在在的东西。

  我将为剩余的旅行保留想象的空间。我敬佩约翰在福音记录中的文字，他写道：“耶稣所行的神迹，还有许多其他的事。” （ Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. -- John 21:25）。我深有同感。虽然我所行的事不可能象耶稣那样非凡，但耶稣给予了我一次在科罗拉多州不平凡的经历。事实证明，我是能够被塑造并成长的。感谢你，耶稣。

                                            （全文完）

  今年暑假，我家儿子开文独自去科罗拉多州的一个偏僻山区当了一个月的农民。回到家后，在我的启发和鼓励下，他写下了这篇简短的游记。我也放下手头别的事，尽我有限的能力来完成这篇文章的翻译工作。我的中文翻得很拙，多请读者保函，但是英文原文写得非常精彩。它记录了一个二十岁的大学生经历这次旅程而带来的许多变化和感想，同时，也让我这个做母亲的，对孩子的成长轨迹有了更深入的了解。

  这次特殊的旅行，也让孩子对美国有了进一步的认识，也激发了他对这个国家的热爱。一个蒙神厚爱的孩子，只要把神装在心里，到老他也不会偏离。谢谢开文的这篇游记，让妈妈也与你一同经历了一段不平凡的旅行。同时，在文字翻译上，我也感谢Nancy姐妹的无私帮助和指点。谢谢。