還有一件事是我後來才知道的。在我來之前，已有七位WWOOF會員來這裏體驗過生活，但非常遺憾的是，課題還未完成，他們就紛紛提前打道回府了。原因無非是嫌這裏勞動強度太大，或者自然條件令他們沮喪。每當凱利與當地上了年紀的長者談論起此事時，他們紛紛搖頭歎息，現在的年輕人吃不得苦。
我遇見一位名叫迪科瓊斯的老頭，年齡七十歲左右，特能逗悶子，超級愛說話。迪科告訴我，他曾經招聘過一些身強力壯的年輕人來幫忙秋收，結果這幫人才幹了半個小時，就累倒爬不起來了。
有一次，我與迪科、凱利閑聊。凱利讚揚了我，說我不但勤勞，還能吃苦，是至今為止第一個堅持留下來沒有當逃兵的年輕人。對於凱利的稱讚，我也頗感自豪。要知道，就在凱利誇讚我的前幾天，我曾經動過念頭，希望能想早點離開這個鬼地方。
那天，凱利有事出門，有五天時間不在家。他沒有給我派什麽具體的活，這讓我的生活變得異常無聊和寂寞。
有一天，我照例出去做活。我沒戴草帽，外麵驕陽似火，蒼蠅和鹿蠅在我身邊嗡嗡亂飛。沒堅持多久，我便感到頭暈目眩，情緒開始變得越來越壞，心情也隨之變得越來越沮喪。我用手把螺絲擰緊，把沉重的木頭拖到一邊去，直到幹得精疲力盡。
幹完了一天的活，我拖著疲憊的身軀回到房間，馬上給遠在加州的妹妹發了封短信，告訴她我受夠了，實在想回家了。這種生活令我厭倦，枯燥無聊的勞動正在消磨我的意誌。可是我妹妹卻鼓勵我堅持留下來（臨時改機票行程的話，要200美元的罰款，實在太貴了）。
正是這次的山區之旅，讓我體會到了藍領階層勞動者的艱辛。他們不僅工資待遇低廉，更重要的是要承受過於繁重的身心負荷。而白領階層就不同了，他們絕大多數時候，隻需用腦工作就可以了。
我尊重那些用雙手創造財富的人，同時我也為自己自豪，我用行動證明了自己，我終於堅持了下來，整整四個星期。而且。我通過自身的努力和學習，學到了許多實實在在的東西。
我將為剩餘的旅行保留想象的空間。我敬佩約翰在福音記錄中的文字，他寫道：“耶穌所行的神跡，還有許多其他的事。” （ Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. -- John 21:25）。我深有同感。雖然我所行的事不可能象耶穌那樣非凡，但耶穌給予了我一次在科羅拉多州不平凡的經曆。事實證明，我是能夠被塑造並成長的。感謝 你，耶穌。
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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!
今年暑假，我家兒子開文獨自去科羅拉多州的一個偏僻山區當了一個月的農民。回到家後，在我的啟發和鼓勵下，他寫下了這篇簡短的遊記。我也放下手頭別的事，盡 我有限的能力來完成這篇文章的翻譯工作。我的中文翻得很拙，多請讀者保函，但是英文原文寫得非常精彩。它記錄了一個二十歲的大學生經曆這次旅程而帶來的許 多變化和感想，同時，也讓我這個做母親的，對孩子的成長軌跡有了更深入的了解。
For city guys, it's not easy to work as 農民s.
Even in my hometown village (in China), all the young people moved to the city because the farm work is too hard, boring, and low paid.
You have a great 兒子.
佩服。。。。。。。。。。。。