Morning finds me waking to the sounds of birds and people quietly moving about outside my hut. I've had a good nights' sleep! No car alarms going off in the middle of the night, cell phones ringing, sirens from emergency vehicles, or inconsiderate people yelling across the hall of the apartment when I'm trying to sleep. I could get used to this! I get up, get dressed, walk over to the door and tie it up so it's half open. Untying the cloths that cover the windows, I look out and notice that the villagers passing by my hut are carrying garments with them as they go.
There's a deep male voice calling... Zhimm... Zhimm! Giff is standing near the entrance of the hut. I step out to meet him... he has an extra set of clothes with him and a pair of sandals for me. Taking a look at the sandals, I really believe he's giving me a pair made for women (I don't think they make a pair of man's sandals that small). No problem, they look the same. At least there are no flowery designs on them! He hands me the clothing and sandals and motions for me to follow him. Walking alongside him, we join others along the way down this path. Judging by their smiles, everyone seems to be in a good mood. Passing the hut area, we're now on a trail descending towards a creek. There's a fork in the path; the men are taking one direction, the women another. The children are also following according to their gender. As we approach the water, we set our clean clothing on bushes or rocks. At the creek, we remove the clothing we wear and proceed to wash the items, and then hand wring them. Spreading the wet clothing down on the warm rocks, we’ll let the Sun and wind dry them as much as possible while we bathe. Time to jump in the creek! Oh man, I'm not used to bathing at this cool water temperature! After a couple minutes or so, I acclimate to it.
The women took a different trail, but they are only about a couple hundred feet away from us. Neither gender pays any attention to the goings on of the other. The two genders are too busy chatting among their own group. Nudity seems to be no big deal with these people. It was the same way on Earth with so-called primitive people. Finishing up with bathing, we leave the water, dry off and put on our dry clothes. I think and laugh to myself, as I put on the breechcloth and sandals. I never would have thought I’d be wearing this form of clothing! I gather up my still somewhat damp clothing and get ready to leave with the others. Giff turns toward me, and points back to the path to the village as we finish up. Walking back to the village, some of the women join us in the walk back. Everyone is chatting and smiling. I'm carrying my old clothing and shoes back, wondering what I'm going to do with them. They're sure out of place here.
We're having another beautiful day weather-wise. The sun is well risen and as yet, there are no clouds in the sky. To my right, the smaller of the two moons is still visible, but looks like it will be setting soon. Overhead, flocks of birds fly over in quantity... a duck hunter's paradise to be sure! For some reason, I again notice how well I feel, and that my head is clear of any allergic symptoms. Thinking about this for a moment, I form a hypothesis. You can't help but notice that what I've seen of this planet so far is the heavy forestation. If most of the landmass of this planet still has its original forests intact, and I would bet it does, it's quite likely the oxygen content is higher here than it is presently on Earth. If that's true, no wonder my head and sinuses feel so clear... (it probably also helps that I am not breathing all the airborne toxins that I was while on Earth).
Proceeding to the village, we find others are spreading out large mats in the short grass. Bowls of various sizes filled with food are carried by women. They're bringing those bowls to the mat area and placing them upon the mats. The mats are arranged so that there is ample room for one to sit around them and also to walk around. Giff and I walk back to my hut, where I enter and deposit my old clothing and shoes. Walking back to the gathering, I find people sitting down around the mats chatting and laughing. Maeya, Terra, and Sar join Giff and I. We take our places around a mat, and sit down in the grass. I'm between Giff and Sar; the two women are opposite me. Before us are a few bowls of food and what appear to be formed stone utensils and thin cloths. The knife utensils are made from sharpened stone.
Terra passes the bowls around to our group. At this time the crowd seems to hush as an elderly man with graying hair at a mat next to our group stands and looks over the gathering. As he's looking around, his arms are outstretched, as if motioning to everyone present. The crowd quiets. He speaks in a somewhat loud voice that all can hear. After about thirty seconds, he gestures with both arms toward me and the crowd chants some sort of short song. After the chant, there is again silence as the man takes his seat. Everyone is engaged in passing around the food bowls and making conversation. Giff puts his arm around my shoulder as if he's congratulating me, and smiles. All in our group pass the food around and proceed to eat. Before us are several types of fruit and what appears to be a type of pudding. I've worked up quite an appetite by this time, and everything sure looks good!
The fruit looks very appetizing... so many different colors and varieties! Slicing it with the utensils, we eat our fill. The pudding is somewhat lumpy, but sure tastes good. It has the consistency of tapioca but tastes nutty and is only slightly sweet. It sure is filling. I can't eat very much... I'll bet its high calorie! After we no longer have our mouths full, the four chat amongst themselves. It's a bit awkward not knowing what they are saying, but that is really my problem, not theirs. Finishing their conversation, the four pick up the bowls and utensils, I do likewise. We proceed to take them to a central location. I assume there are a few people that will gather them up for cleaning and disposing the leftovers. Moving away from the bowls, Giff and Sar apparently tell the women they are going somewhere, so the women leave us to attend to their duties. The two men motion me to follow them.
Following Giff and Sar to their huts, we arrive at Giff's hut and wait outside. He emerges with food and water pouches on his waist, and what appears to be a reaping implement in his hand. Stopping at Sar's hut, Sar emerges with the same hardware plus an extra implement for me to use. He hands it to me with another slap on the back. I already had my food and water pouches when I left my hut, so I am good to go.
Walking past the dwellings of the village, we follow a path that leads away from it. Other men are following behind us, with the same cutting implements, others with baskets... likely going to the same place we are. We follow the path that branches away from the creek and toward what appears to be a tall stand of foliage. The stand is about a quarter mile in the distance. Even from this distance, I can tell that this foliage covers quite a bit of ground. Coming upon the field, the workers already there have begun to harvest the foliage. I think this harvesting has been going on for a few weeks at least, from the looks of the field. Workers have placed the long stalks in a number of tepee shaped stacks. Most likely, this is to dry the harvest before bringing it back to the village.
Giff and Sar stop at the entrance to the field. Sar extends his arms as if embracing the field, looks at me, smiles, and says "sibannac”! I do the same, and say sibannac! Sar gives me a hearty laugh! It dawns on me that this is the same foliage that the children held when they were doing their dance yesterday. From the looks of things, this must be a pretty important crop to them.
Those around me commence to cut the stalks, so after a few seconds of observation, I copy their movements and join them. Other workers are taking the stalks we have cut. These workers are cutting the glistening, flowery buds off the top of the stalks, storing them in large baskets. Others are taking the stalks from those that have removed the flowery buds and stacking them into the tepee shapes. The work is not easy for us that first cut the stalks. The stone implements we are using are making the job harder... sure wish I had a good sharp steel machete!
Some of the workers act as runners... they are responsible for carrying the baskets of the flowering tops of the stalks back to the village. Runners also carry small bundles of stalks that seem to have been harvested quite a while ago, and are now completely dried. They are bound with rope into a size that can be carried back by one person to the village.
We've put in a good mornings work so far, and are having lunch. We're sitting together with some of the others in the field. The men converse with each other while devouring their rations. Giff says something to the other workers, and pats me on the back. He speaks and gestures, pointing to the stalks that have been harvested by us.
Looking around at the wildlife in the immediate area near us, I notice birds of many species poking around where we have been harvesting. I think they are gleaning seeds that have fallen from the plants as they were placed in the baskets. It must be one of their favorite foods, as they are making a fair amount of noise while flocking to it. I'm also getting used to seeing the larger mammals around us in the distance. Some are in the nearby creek drinking. It's sure a relaxing scene, (when we're not working). Oh well, a little work never hurt anyone, eh? This work is sure different from my work at the lab. I used mostly my mind there. Now I'm using muscles I think I've never used before. I'll probably feel all this in the morning!
As far as my work, I've had to rest a number of times so far for ten minutes at a time. The others have only taken one short break besides lunch. It seems that I am quite unable to work as hard as these men do. It doesn't surprise me. All these men are quite muscular and they've probably worked liked this from day one. They've also had the benefit of this excellent nutrition all their lives. They don't hassle or chide me about my work. I know they realize I'm not capable of doing what they can do.
Continuing on after lunch...
Every now and then, some of the women come from the village and bring fresh cool water from the creek for us to drink, and some cloths to wipe the sweat away. They've also brought strips of fabric for all to use as sweat bands. I've noticed the women here work as hard as the men do. Even when they leave, the women carry baskets back with them, helping out the runners. Terra also came and brought us another change of clothing. We plan to go to the creek after working the field and bathe before returning to the village. She chatted briefly with the other men, then came up to me and smiled. She noticed the sweat running down my forehead and wiped my brow with a dry cloth. She must have thought I really looked "wiped out!"
A few hours later...
I have some unexpected relief... clouds have moved in and have made it quite overcast. The heat of the day has lessened a bit, and the wind is starting to pick up. Perhaps we're in for some rain.
A few more hours pass and the workers are calling it a day. Gathering up our items from the field, we start heading back to the village. As we walk back with the other workers, we see they're also taking the detour to the creek. We're all in good spirits, as the days' labors are done... the creek is just up ahead. Arriving at the creek, we set aside the sweaty clothes and bathe in the cool water of the creek. Man, that cool water feels good now! The workers are in a good mood... laughing and throwing water on each other. After bathing, we proceed to walk back to the village.
The overcast sky is beginning to darken. Giff and Sar look up while walking, noticing the change also. As we enter the village, we see no preparation for an outdoor dinner. Everyone is making preparations for rain, running into huts and tying window cloths.
Giff waves to us and leaves to walk into another hut. Sar motions me to follow him into his hut. As we enter the hut, I notice we have company. Trem and Leea are seated at the table, with Terra and Maeya alongside Leea. Sar takes his seat next to Terra, and I take a seat next to Trem. Terra has already prepared everything for today's dinner. Everything set before us sure looks good! Man, I'm awful hungry. I don't think I've ever put in that kind of work all in one day before, and it has really given me an appetite. She starts passing bowls around and the rest of us follow suit. A number of varieties of vegetables, nuts, mushrooms, a couple types of fish, and hulled sibannac seeds are before us... and it all looks good! As we start eating, I notice the wind is picking up by listening to the leaves on the trees rustling. Very shortly, the gentle sound of rain can be heard on the thatching of the hut. I'm thankful that, so far, it isn't as intense as the rain was when I first arrived here. I can hear the rumbling of thunder off in the distance. I wonder if the weather front is moving away from or towards us?
I'm sure glad to be sitting here with my newfound friends, eating good food after a hard day's work in the field. As the group is chatting and laughing together, my mind drifts to my surroundings. I'm listening to a gentle rain and the joyful conversation of those that have taken me in as their own. I've worked hard today, and sitting here calmly with a full stomach has caused every muscle in my body to start relaxing. Funny, it has just occurred to me that I don't have a care in the world... anything to really worry about. I don't think it gets any better than this!