August in Yolo County

If it's August in Yolo County, it's time for the tomato harvest. And one sure sign the tomato harvest is in full swing is spilled tomatoes along the shoulders and corners of country roads.



One thing I never knew before a few years ago -- but should have been obvious -- is that the drivers of tomato trucks are temporary workers -- very often college students. They are not professional truck drivers. As such, they have poor judgment taking turns, and not uncommonly spill some amount of their load on each trip.

When August is over and the fields are brown for the next couple of months, the stain and rot of tomatoes spilled along the roads leading from the fields to the canneries will remain, shriveling into the asphalt.