Blueberries and Lavender and More Blueberries

Hello!  I am almost two weeks in at my little farm internship here in California.  Berry Creek, California at Green Cedar Farm.  What's that you say?  I should have written before? Well, yes, I would have been updating the past couple weeks, but as it turns out there is no internet at Green Cedar Farm.  Nor do I really have much phone reception. Nor a car. And- it worked out so that I am the only intern.  So I basically live in the middle of nowhere with the couple that owns the farm (age 60-65).  QUITE a different lifestyle than I'm used to. Not gonna lie, it's been a little bit difficult.  I miss young people... and even though I like the couple (Frank and Sally) it's weird that they're my only company. and i can't leave the property unless I go somewhere with them.  It's a bit confining. I will probably only stay until early october. I doubt I could handle 3 full months here.  It feels like I've been here a month already, and it's been less than 2 weeks...
But! There are some cool things.  The farm is really neat. They have a large garden for their own use, and then orchards that they sell produce from at the Quincy and Chico farmers markets.  I've been to the Quincy one only so far.  It's a cute little town, and the markets pretty small and theres kids running around and stuff, and a band that plays. i like it actually. people loveee the blueberries from green cedar. thats for sure... thats what ive spent a lot of time doing- picking blueberries. its kinda fun, but youre under the blueberry nets and kinda hunched, or sitting. and in the really crowded blueberry bunches, little earwig bugs are hiding. they... are disgusting. really shiny, prehistoric looking, with pincers. i hate them. i saved a praying mantis that was stuck in the blueberry nets (though i think he perished later...), and a lizard, and helped to get 2 finches who were inside the nets get out. the nets kinda cause a problem for the wildlife.. but i guess otherwise the birds would get all the bluebs. ive also started some seeds for the winter veggies, picked some apples, thinned the apple trees (which is literally taking off apples and throwing them on the ground... apparently this is a common and healthy practice! still seems wasteful...), water the garden and the little greenhouse (really just a shelf of young plants with a screen over it), packed blueberries, picked lavender, gone to farmers markets, cooked a little. farm work. theres a lot left to learn... we hiked up the ridge behind the farm the other evening, it was realllllly pretty. and yesterday hiked the middle fork, down to this really pretty river with huge white rocks you could lay on and cliffs. it was a really cool place. its been fun, but i just think it would be a little MORE fun if one or two other young interns were on the farm as well... someone else to talk to besides ol f & s (frank & sally). they are cool people though, for sure. frank read the one straw revolution (which i strangely also read a year or so ago, and it definitely changed my view of things) and was inspired by it to have a very natural farm. their products are organic, but he also tries to work with the land, keep native vegetation around to inspire native insects and decomposers and birds and stuff, and kind of count on them to keep the ecosystem intact (rather than devastating it and wiping out the biodiversity, as most farms do). he pays close attention to this soil and makes sure its healthy and wont erode away and leach to useless dust, which i like alot. and we eat every night with fruits from the orchard and veggies from the garden! i like that alot. a love watching the stuff i've planted getting bigger, and making crisps from blueberries that i picked, and all that. its really cool, but i see that running a farm is a LOT of work. youve got to keep up with it and constantly be doing chores, checking on your plants, etc. and its been weird being so out of touch with people, not having a computer and not having great phone service, and being busy most of the day. im sure its a good thing overall, but its a little depressing sometimes being so distant from everyone. i definitely miss my family and friends and homeeee and athens. and being a college kid. and of course im worried what im going to do after this. if i  go home in 6 weeks--- then i have an infinite amount of time in alpharetta at my parents house in from of me. ummm no.. i am thinking about grad schools, but that wont be until a year from now, at the earliest. so what to do between now and then? i realllllly want to try something abroad, but this internship has showed me that i need to be around people, and not too isolated. so yea, i need to figure that out, but i guess for now i should just focus on being here and getting the most out of it that i can. and a lot of it i really enjoy. ive got my own little guest house. we eat dinners together every night. they have a screened in room just for meals. i like their dog sarah, i love the garden, the hikes have been pretty, and the market is fun. i hopefully will be going to chico relatively soon. i also think im going to bucks lake tomorrow with frank on the way to quincy. so ya, im doing stuff. its just a big transition, which i am bad at. i was so attached to the life i had, the people in it and the place and the guy i was with- and pretty much all of that has changed. not easy, for sure. i bet a lot of my friends are having similar difficulties, though some people seem to take it better and move smoothly into their new lives. i guess i could technically go back to athens or atlanta and try to find a job. i just want to do what i really LOVE doing. which im not sure what that is yet, but im not sure i could find it in athens or atlanta. i maybe could. i realllllly want to be somewhere where i can go out and hiking, camping, swimming, kayaking on a regular basis. georgia isnt the best for that. im not sure where is. guess i will figure it out as i go along. life is definitely full of suprises. i just wonder if im too sentimental for my own good. i look back on my experiences and miss them incredibly. i remember the feeling of doing certain things and being certain places and im just like wow... i miss that. the whole situation. the surroundings, the people, the smells and all that kind of stuff. and the older i get the worse it gets, because there is more to miss. living in the now is probably the best thing i could learn at this point. and enjoying what im doing, because when i look back at stuff, i think how awesome my life is, how much fun ive had, all the cool stuff ive done. and a lot of it- i was stressed while i was doing it. not that i didnt enjoy it, but i know that i was worried or upset about something at the time, most likely. and then afterwards when im done worrying im like ooooh wow that was so fun! ok well i think i need to go, frank just walked in to the coffee shop (he was doing errands in oroville, where i am) so i think we are going back to the farm now (about 45 min drive into the hills). i need to get back to the blueberries, they miss me. they're getting in fights. ok enough of that. i will update again as soon as i have internet again. maybe ill have some more insights and thoughts. blueberry stories. a husband. who knows!