Reflections on Lakeview Farms
St. Peters, MO Age
12-16 (1990-1994)
~Group
of kids – coming of age- Saturdays were our days- most unusual place –
Strawberry fields….
~Witnessing
each others’ lives, sharing secrets, dreams, fears, and asking questions
~Pride of hard,
earned money; rewarding
~Developing
a sense of self – competent, confident, surprised by our own strength and
endurance
~Cold, heavy, wet
straw bales
~Transplant
buckets
~My favorite tree
~A sense of
family
~Endless memories:
mice under shed, the rock pile, being separated for talking, saving
a young boy who fell in the pond during picking season, could give berry picking
instructions in my sleep, falling off the tractor, swallowing a grasshopper
while weeding
~Watching
and being a part of the evolution of the farm (raspberries, black raspberries
across the creek, PUMPKINS)
~Trips to True Value
Hardware for candy
~To this
day, I love the smell of soil, the process of gardening and learning the
scientific names of plants
~A real feeling of being
a part of something
~A safe
place outside of usual peers
~Sadness and loss –
Dennis
~Watching
each of us taking different paths
~Identifying Oxalis,
“tap root” weeds
~Certainty of
lifelong connections
~Love in my heart
knowing there are many “Lakeview Kid” families and knowing the gratitude they
too feel for their fields
~Autonomy
and respect Mr. Lask showed each of us…he trusted us
~All Star, Red Chief
~A respite
from any turmoil in our families and homes
~Savoring the taste
of a berry right off the vine, warm and juicy
~Bobby pin
boxes – millions of them
~Talking inside the
raspberry trellises…the mysticism, can’t see each other, but intimate
conversations
~Full
circle. Today I am blessed to make a living out of listening and learning from
the stories of strangers and hoping that in my listening and own sharing I make
a difference in their life as they do in mine.
~Thank you Mr. Lask
for sharing your dream with us and for believing in each of us
With gratitude,
Monica (Boll) Lieser