KCC Service Learning

at the Lyon Arboretum

Reflective Journal: Entry 5 of 5

Maria C. Tesoro

APRIL 21, 1997




My last day. I asked to come on a Monday because my Thursday mornings were to be spent working for the rest of the semester. I made it to the Arboretum by 12:00 noon. Everyone was still on their kuchbreak so I decided to check out the gift shop. I was happy to find out that they sold pineapple marmalade. I've been looking for that flavor forever. The gift shop also had the usual tourist targeted items like kukui nut necklaces and puka shell anklets. Most of the items they sold were made by Arboretum volunteers.

At 12:30 Mr. Seaman called me to do some weeding. By this time I knew to soak myself in OFF! and pull my hair back tightly. I also brought mrdical latex gloves from the dental office I work at. I had developed a severe rash on my hands from the last time I worked at the Arboretum.

I found that I could not get a grip on the weeds due to the rain. THe rain made the plants wet and I could not pull the weeds out because they were too slippery with my gloves off. I took the gloves off because I couldn't work well. I figured it was my last day and whatever plant I was allergic to hopefully wasn't in the island I was working at today.

At about 2:00 Mr. Ray Baker came by to ask if he could "borrow" me. I was hoping Mr. Seaman would say,"Of course not. She is doing some extremely important weeding." Nope.

Mr. Baker, Ed, and I went all the way up a side of a mountain into a Hawaii section. This section had the usual fare you would expect from a Hawaii section. It had large ti plants. A closer look would prove to be interesting. One plant called the "Rose of Siam" caught my eye. Mr. Baker agreed that it was one of his favorite plants. It had a shiny, waxy flower that grew from a stalk. The flowers were bright red. The top had a rosette like a rose but where a rose was delicate and fragile the Rose of Siam was sturdy and thick.

We hiked up onto the hillside to start clearing more trails. This frightened me because we were working way up high on a steep hillside. Mr. Baker warned us to always make sure we had a good foothold or a tree to hold on to or we would go tumbling down the hillside headfirst. Ed seemed at ease with this. I was a little more apprehensive.

I found a large coffee plant. I had never seen a coffee plant before and I was fascinated. It had crisp dark green leaves. Unfortunately, it was smack dab in the middle of my trail. I took my saw, cut it down, and threw it into the rubbish pile. It was definately not meant to be in the Hawaiian section. Being an avid coffee drinker, this broke my heart.

Eventually, I forgot about how high up I was. A substantial amount of my trail was cleared and I felt proud of myself. Mr. Baker seemed pleased with me and patted my head.

As I was leaving I hugged everyone good-bye. Mr. Seaman told me, "The trees are going to miss you." I miss the trees, too.




Return to Microbiology Service Learning page