Hands

Frequent Photo

“I’m doing it because I have frikkin’ kids and no child support,” Bee says. Bent over a tray, picking through sticky green product for long, tedious hours, the women, and it’s mostly women, who work the clipping tables usually gossip, laughing and sharing stories to pass the time much as quilters might.  The silver flash of small scissors enhances the image but these women could be arrested for their work and Bee knows it.  A wiry, dark haired worker with her hair tucked into a cap, her hands never pause as she finishes answering my question. “I need the flexible hours.  I drop my kid off at school, clip, and then I can go pick her up.”

She sounds as matter of fact as a seamstress in a factory but before she leaves this job, she’ll need to check herself for evidence.  Probably the other clipper at the table will help. Women in the business manicure each other before they leave to go pick up their kids and fix dinner.  They pluck delicate five pointed marijuana leaves off of jackets and out of hair. They pass each other olive oil to clean the sticky brown resin off their fingertips and help each other change out of work clothes so they don’t smell like pot, in order to make sure they don’t shock their neighbors and don’t get arrested.

The newest Humboldt Grow (the online page hasn’t yet been updated)  magazine is out.  I have written several articles for it including the one I’ve excerpted above. For it, I interviewed several manicurists and a grower.  We discuss everything from pay to Carpel Tunnel.

The Hemp Connection carries copies here in Garberville.