Admit Weekend Gleaning

The gleaning faithful - the creators and the redhead - were joined by several students in front of the Post Office last Thursday 4/22. We had new comers and old friends. Many peopled honed their skills on our bright orange pickers (which look like over-grown entirely metal lacrosse sticks) while others reached up into the trees with eager hands.

We were still waiting for the pickers as hoards of prospective freshmen streamed through White Plaza. Luckily, Susannah met the group just before they disappeared up the row and was able to give a ringing endorsement of the Gleaning Project. Although I'm sure they won't forget us, I do wonder if they were aware that she was welcoming them, rather than attacking them with the pickers =) ProFros can be a little jumpy.

The gleaning was enhanced by an array of upbeat songs, and there was much rejoicing. Many people stopped by to see what we were doing and got a chance to try fruit that had split open. My favorite visitor was a Mom from Carmel, Indiana. She came up, wondering what we were doing, wearing her Stanford parent pin (her son will be part of the class of 2014). Beyond her questions though, I think what she really wanted was to taste an orange that she had seen attached to a tree moments before. I thought back to my first time in California wandering around the State capitol building in Sacramento, and how determined my Mother and I were to taste an orange from one of the trees. It was so novel and unexpected to see them growing like they were, instead of in grocery crates.

Altogether a fantastic glean. We shall have to wait for an official weight, but my gut tells me upwards of 80lbs is a good guess.