The encredibly long, dirty, cold/hot days took their toll...It was a continual struggle to find the appropriate clothing and especially gloves...Early fall mornings in Wallowa County are cold, we could put on more layers for body warmth, hats for our heads and wool socks in our boots...But our fingers were a major problem...Gloves that would keep fingers warm were bulky and made it impossible to do our job...Working with cold/freezing fingers made a dirty job almost unbearable...I think I forgot to mention that we were being paid under $2.00 an hour...My memory fails me on the exact dollar amount...I usually wasn't a quitter but I thought about quitting many times, standing at that belt, with the continual motion, noise, dirt, wondering how long before break time.
After the first week, a determination to finish the season (I think the wages went up just a bit if you did,) became a mindset...Also by this time none of us wanted to disappoint Cliff and Clada...They were out there everyday, working longer hours, Clada worrying about cooking meals and a household to manage, as well as working on the digger...Cliff was always repairing equipment at nights...Their days were long and grueling, the potato crop was a big part of their income...Plus the grain crop was getting close to harvest and all the other farm chores had to be done everyday...We for the most part became a faithful, dependable crew, staying to the end.
No matter how unbearable things became Clada was optimistic and had this incredible, infectious laugh and she had a love for smoking that came in very handy, when we needed an extra break!..Hugs to All...OWAV:)
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