Immediately as I stepped from the van, I saw a dark-haired woman sporting sunglasses. She was standing beside a Gator, a sort of ATV for agriculture, and I called out a "hello." She returned with a very enthusiastic, "Hey! How are you?" As she removed her glasses, I recognized her as a woman I'd worked with at the cheesehouse.
"Well, hi! Is this your place?" I asked as I approached her.
"Ha! No! Oh, no. I just work here." She went on to tell me how she'd been fired from her other job and had known that she really needed to be in horitculture, anyway. She was much happier. I could tell. She looked much happier. After a bit of chit-chat, I told her I'd seen the sign that they were hiring and wondered who I would talk to.
"That'd be Joannie. She's around here somewhere..." and I followed her off to be there when she located Joannie.
Inside the greenhouse, it was beautiful chaos. Marching rows of flats, not yet blooming, created a sense of order and organization. Baskets and buckets of garden accents not yet set out for display dotted the floor and every possible surface. Birdhouses, garden tools, primary-colored clogs and empty vessels for every shape and size competed for my attention. A few steps beyond the entrance, a miniature fairy garden about the size of a small room sat contentedly, sprouted soft tufts of mosses and tiny ivies.
Joannie approached, a pleasant-looking woman who has the appearance of someone who works very hard. I introduced myself. "I saw that you're looking for help. I stopped to find out what you need." She nodded, paused to think a minute, and then said, "What are you looking for? What kind of work do you want to do?"
I told her that I'm a stay-at-home mom, that I have a sixteen-year-old daughter who is interested in botany and horiculture who would also be interested in working, and that I'm pretty flexible with my hours, now that Summer is approaching and our regular activities are tapering off.
Joannie explained to me what she needed, and then she said, "Can you come, like, tomorrow? I have a huge truck coming in full of plants and I need as many people as I can get to help." I thought for a moment, checking my mental calendar, and then I nodded. "I think I can do that...Yeah. We can do that." Her face visibly lifted.
"Oh, great! I have to tell you, I just got off the phone with my friend this morning and I said, 'Please, if you pray this morning, pray that God will send me a couple of new helpers.' I've had people come in to apply, but I just didn't feel right about them. I didn't feel comfortable. This is wonderful! Well, when you come tomorrow morning, we'll talk more about the other possibilities."
And with that, I shook her hand and went excitedly on my way.
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