COVID in farm country
Sunny, 82 degrees
Humidity 15%
Dew Point 29 degrees
Wind W @ 7mph
Forecast: Increasing clouds, cooler
‘Social distancing’.
A new term for the 21st Century. Hopefully one of those terms that will soon become history for the rest of the century.
However, in Western Kansas we have been practicing our brand of ‘social distancing’ for generations. At the Farm our nearest neighbor is almost a half mile away. The next is a mile. A two-mile circle around the Farm finds four neighbors. A four-mile circle will add a couple more. Our ‘neighborhood’ is farm ground. Acres and acres. Sometimes miles and miles.
Often weeks will go by and we do not see anyone up close. Nothing closer than dirt road discussion distance.
Two pickups stopped on the road.
Facing opposite directions.
Windows down.
But with all of that we keep pretty close track on each other.
Just at a distance.
Out here it’s pretty easy to see who is driving down the road or working in a field a mile or two away.
It’s not that country folks are reclusive.
Actually, just the opposite.
Check any church on a non-harvest Sunday morning.
Or the Co-Op any day.
Or the hardware store.
Or Mike’s Place on Wednesday evenings.
We enjoy getting together. But the very nature of farming means you have to be comfortable in your own skin. Comfortable spending time alone.
Of course, in the era of COVID-19 we are all putting in some extra effort.
Wardway Home
Clearing; 75 degrees
Humidity 90%
Dew Point 66 degrees
Wind SW @ 10 mph
Forecast: Continued clearing, high 85 degrees
Hilary and Xavier went exploring.
Xavier was looking for a Bull Snake. Hilary was not looking for a Bull snake.
Or any other kind of snake. They stopped at Aunt Leona’s on the way back from “Raymond’s field” up north of Aunt Leona’s. No one has lived in the house since Aunt Leona moved out. Although the family cleaned up the place after she moved there is still some furniture inside.
A kitchen table.
A sofa.
A few chairs.
Some buckets and other stuff no one wanted at the time.
However, being the kind of people who never throw anything away, they left the stuff there. Someone might want it next month. Or maybe in the Spring.
No one did.
Not next month.
Not next Spring. Nor the next.
One Spring led to another until almost 30 have gone by.
The stuff is still there.
The house is getting pretty well run down. But it is still standing. Still fairly water tight. But it would take a fair amount of work to make it livable. At least for people.
And bull snakes.
Looking past the lack of upkeep it is easy to see that the house was well-constructed.
It is a Wardway Home.
Aaron Montgomery Ward founded his company in 1872. He was a firm believer in technology. And a man who believed that technology could transform the retail business.
Trains were the technology of the time.
Trains could take goods of all kinds all over the country.
Montgomery Ward’s first mail-order catalogue was one page. A total of 163 items.
By the mid 1920s the catalogue had several thousand pages and weighed in at four pounds. Among those pages was the Wardway Home purchased by Uncle Bill and Aunt Martha (Albert’s brother and sister-in-law). It arrived in WaKeeney by train.
Family and friends helped haul the unconstructed home out to the homestead.
Then they constructed it.
Seems they did a pretty good job.
It’s still standing.
However, a close inspection shows that there are some structural needs to fix to bring the Wardway back to glory. Some home inspectors might suggest rebuilding some of the interior load-bearing walls. Perhaps redo some windows. Other inspectors might suggest rebuilding some of the floor joists. Other inspectors might suggest rebuilding everything above the ‘sub-foundation’.
The dirt.
However, this Wardway Home has stood for almost 95 years. And for over 60 of those years this house was a home.
When Uncle Bill and Aunt Martha moved to Sharon Springs, Kansas in the early 1930s, Uncle August (another of Albert’s brothers) and Aunt Olinda moved in. They had two children. Girls. Aunt Olinda died in 1947.
In childbirth.
So, did the baby.
A few years later Uncle August remarried.
Leona.
Leona became Aunt Leona. She had two daughters. When blended together the family had four girls. All a year apart. Birthdays in 1935, ’36, ’37 and ’38. The Wardway became home to all four.
Six including Uncle August and Aunt Leona.
Eight including the dogs.
Nine including the cat who always sat in Uncle August’s lap.
A little while after Uncle August died, Aunt Leona moved to Russell, Kansas.
Once Aunt Leona left, the Wardway became a home for small country critters. Although to this day there are no signs of mice!
Maybe Xavier and Hilary didn’t look hard enough for a bull snake.
These days the place is called Aunt Leona’s.
Years from now it will still be called Aunt Leona’s. It’s what everyone in Carolyn’s generation called it. It’s the only name all of the current kids and grandkids have heard. There is a good chance that when the house is down to just a piece of a foundation Trego Center Dairy folks will still refer to the place as Aunt Leona’s.
It’s just how we do things.
Beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Sunny 61 degrees
Humidity 35%
Dew Point 32 degrees
Wind S @ 17 mph
Forecast: Partially Cloudy
A quick run to town.
Stopped by Stephens Lumber then True Value Hardware. Looking for a large mouse trap. (https://tregocenterdairy.com/corn-harvest-2019-2/ Mouse Problems)
Then to Malay’s Market.
Formerly Heartland Foods.
Formerly WaKeeney IGA.
Formerly Bogart’s.
The decades may change the name. Even change the owners. But the grocery store story lives on. But that is a different story.
Pulled into a parking spot on Russell Avenue. Got out of the car and stopped dead in my tracks.
Not yet Thanksgiving. But there is frost on the pumpkin.
Time to hang the tinsel.
Fall Fishing
Sunny 53degrees
Humidity 72%
Dew Point 32 degrees
Wind N @ 5 mph
Forecast: Partially Sunny, highs 50s
Fall fishing is different than Summer fishing.
It’s colder.
Even the fish think so. They stay a foot or so off the bottom of the lake. Just kind of lounging around in the warmer water.
Not sure if fish hibernate but they certainly develop a lackadaisical feeding routine. When they take a bite of the bait, it’s more of a nibble. Often the person on the other end of the line doesn’t even know a fish is nosing around. Seems we have a lake full of Carp connoisseurs.
Carp are the only fish in the lake.
The Wipers and Striped Bass have gone South for the Winter.
In the Summer from hundreds of yards away we can see the surface of the lake suddenly ruffle with excitement. Suddenly a patch of water is ‘boiling’. Suddenly there are big fish jumping out of the water. The Wipers and Stripers have chased schools of Shad to the surface. Then the Wipers and Stripers shoot through the confusion with their mouths wide open.
A Shad snack for their efforts.
In the Summer we race to the boiling water and cast a lure in the midst of the confusion and more often than not we’re bringing home fish for dinner. (https://tregocenterdairy.com/2013/08/05/fishing-2/ fishing)
Carroll
our local fishing guru
has been having some luck fishing this Fall along the bottom of the lake with minnows.
Late Thursday morning, two days after the end of corn harvest, Bruce, John and i put some minnows in a bucket. Bundle up. Head to the lake.
To maximize our luck Carroll is our guide. And we’re using his boat.
By 11:45 we are at the first spot. An underwater brush pile well known as a fish hangout.
No ‘boiling’ water.
No racing across the lake to a Wiper/Striper feeding frenzy.
Fall fishing is much more Norman Rockwell.
Laid back.
Drop the bait. Let it fall to the bottom. Reel it back a foot or so. Then….
Wait.
Quiet conversation.
Who’s finished picking corn?
Who’s not?
Who’s been to Webster Reservoir?
What did they catch?
The stillness is broken by the barely noticeable crunch of peanuts. Then sunflower seeds. Then an outburst of non-Norman Rockwell language! A hook down below slides into a brush pile.
Bare hooks, especially hooks sporting a feisty minnow, can get extremely stuck. But there is a trick
well more of a talent
to getting hooks unhooked from underwater branches. And Bruce is the acknowledged guru. Today, because we are fishing near the bottom by brush piles, he gets a fair number of opportunities to demonstrate his skills.
For five hours we go from brush pile to brush pile. About the only ‘rushing across the lake’ we do.
We catch about 15 fish.
Bring home a dozen.
Three of the four of us get fish into the boat.
The fourth person….well….
I’m just not used to this kind of fishing.
The sun was in my eyes.
It was too quiet.
The boat seats are too soft.
My back hurt.
But just wait until next time!
Mouse Problems
Mostly Sunny 50 degrees
Humidity 35%
Dew Point 22 degrees
Wind N @ 18 mph
Forecast: Sunny, highs 60s
Out in the country there are occasionally mice problems. Problems, that is, if you don’t want mice around. (https://tregocenterdairy.com/corn-harvest-2017/ ). So, when i come up with a mouse problem i started asking around. It didn’t take long to realize that everyone has their favorite mouse fixing techniques.
Here the cats take care of the out buildings, barns and granaries. In fact, they take it as personal affront if anyone tries to supplement or alter their technique. Their moussing technique has been passed down from generation to generation. For generations and generations. The Farm even has a ‘Moussing Hall of Fame’. The championship is still held by legendary mouser Mouzer. Mouzer was held sway when John, Bruce, Carolyn and Pam were young.
There was a story that the Glenturret Distillery heard of Mouzer.
They wanted to have Mouzer come over for a friendly competition with Towser.
Not being an Islay distillery Mouzer refused.
Recently i started having mouse problems.
Found everything i could online. Tried a few techniques.
Nothing worked.
Asked around here. Even asked at church one Sunday.
Came up with different technique with everyone i asked. But they all centered around Cats, quick kill and catch and release. Seems everyone had tried everything. And everyone said the tried and true Victor ‘spring-loaded bar’ trap was generally the best bang for your buck.
It kills the mouse. But it kills the mouse in a quarter of a second. A much kinder way to die than water or glue traps.
The Farm cats were all for the cage type traps. Of course, they assume that the caught mouse will be released in yard, becoming game.
Once folks expostulated on the style of trap there was pronouncement on bait. Once again everyone has their ‘works every time for me’ bait.
Cheese.
Peanut butter (smooth vs chunky).
Grain (usually ground up and made into a paste).
Meat (everything from beef to lobster).
I tried a number of different combinations. All with varying degrees of failure. Finally came up with the right trap and the right bait for my mouse problem.
I don’t yet have enough experience to claim this is the best, but this combination fixed my mouse problems.
First try.
Canadian Clipper?
Cloudy 17 degrees
Humidity 75%
Dew Point 11 degrees
Wind N @ 25 mph Gusts to 44 mph
Forecast: Clearing, Warmer (a little)
Everyone slept in.
Bruce made it to 6:15am.
Me? 6:30.
Of course, everyone had been up several times during the night. The wind was
still is
straight out of the North. Last night it was gusting to just over 1,000 miles per hour. Maybe a little less. But It was rattling Grandma’s house. Probably Bruce’s.
Since we were ‘sleeping in’ Bruce didn’t get over for coffee until 6:40. But not too late for coffee and conversation in the kitchen.
We discussed the news.
The transit of Mercury across the Sun today is the highlight.
Discussed weird dreams.
I saw John driving a combine the size and height of the Shelbourne header.
He was
driving from inside. On the left. About like driving a sports car.
Bruce found a large bore (hog) he had lost as a kid. An FFA project. The bore got stuck
under a water trough and was now just a pile of lard.
Discussed a ‘flat income tax’
Agreed that it seems to make sense. We’ll look into it.
Discussed plans for around the Farm.
Want to haul the old yellow combine out of the pasture. Cut it up and haul the pieces
to the scrap yard. Albert bought the combine many years ago. It is a small machine. Now-a-days a very small machine. Bruce recalls the header being sold to Paul. The motor was sold to Rick. The wheels to someone else. All that’s left of the combine needs to be recycled. It took virtually no discussion to decide that this would be a fun project.
Leaning back in my chair i focused on another project. A project that i’ve wanted to take on for several years now.
The weather vane is on top of the Morton building. Easily seen all over the yard. But it seems like the directional letters (N,S,E,W) have been switched around. Just the opposite of where they should be. The E for East is on the West side. The W for West is on the East….
Over the years i’ve convinced myself that this is actually the right position. If the arrow
pointing into the wind
is pointing East, which is actually West, it means that the wind is ‘blowing East’. If it points North the wind is blowing South. And so on.
I asked Bruce.
He rolled his chair over to the kitchen window.
We have two nice, padded rolling chairs at the kitchen table. Very comfortable.
Very convenient.
‘No. No.’ he said, ‘they are backwards.’ He rolled back to the table. ‘You know,’ Bruce continued, ‘i never look at the letters. I just look at the arrow on top. See where it is pointing.’
Out here in West Kansas the cardinal directions are genetic. Everyone grows up using compass directions to describe the location of things.
Everything.
The picture is on the North wall. The chair on the West side of the room. The semi on the East side of the field. The mustard on the South side of the second shelf of the refrigerator.
Looking at the arrow is sufficient.
However, Bruce is willing to go along with realigning the weather vane cardinal letters. Another fairly straight forward project. But….
Climbing on top of the Morton building in a 25 mph North wind with gusts to 44 is….
well….
just not smart. Neither is hauling the old combine across the pasture.
After NO discussion at all today’s plans were finalized.
Bruce will do some paperwork. Go to town to talk with insurance folks.
Bob will work on some Farm video/photos/stories.
Today’s outside activity will be confined to feeding animals.
And there is a chance they may have to show up to the door.
Zero-Dark-Thirty: No sleep. No milking
Clear 3 degrees(Feels like -6)
Humidity 91%
Dew Point 1 degree
Wind WSW @ 4 mph
Forecast: Sunny, highs 40s
Two things come to mind at 3am.
One: The first Armistice Day was on November 11th 1919.
It commemorated military veterans who died in World War I on November 11, 1919. So, this year IS the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. That first commemoration was held in Buckingham Palace, England and included two minutes of silence in memory for those who died in ‘The War to End all Wars’.
Two: There are no cows to milk.
Trego Center Dairy was a real-live Grade A dairy for almost/slightly over 50 years. That part of Trego Center Dairy stopped a few years ago. Trego Center Dairy is still the name of the Farm. The name on all the paperwork. But the Holsteins are gone.
Millie, Hilary’s cow, was the last.
Millie spent the last years of her life walking around with Norma, the bull, adding a bit of ambience to the Farm. Millie died in 2017. There are no more black and white cows at Trego Center Dairy.
This is a good thing.
At least for ‘old guys’.
At four this morning it was 3 degrees outside. With a wind chill of -6 degrees. That’s cold. At least in the ‘Lower 48’.
For those many years of dairy farming at ‘Zero-dark-thirty’ (4:30 am) we
(OK, Bruce 99.972591% of the time.)
would be on the four-wheeler rounding up cows. Heading them to the ‘holding pen’. From there they would walk into the ‘milking parlor’ to make their morning deposit.
3 Degrees.
Wind chill of -6 degrees.
And that is not a record for morning coldness.
Not by a long shot.
Like so many things in life, milking cows is a young person’s game. And at ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ we ‘old folks’ are grateful to get up….
go to the bathroom and
go back to sleep.
Another Veterans/Armistice Day
11.11.19
Partly cloudy 17 degrees
Humidity 45%
Dew Point 4 degrees
Wind N @ 22 mph
Forecast: Sunny, highs 20s
Poppies.
Most folks if asked about poppies almost immediately think of opium. Or perhaps Dorothy, Toto and friends falling asleep in the enchanted poppy field in front of the Emerald City.
The World War I generation would immediately think of the Flanders. A Dutch speaking area in northern Belgium.
Brussels is in the Southern part of Flanders.
Flanders was a major battle area of WWI. It is also the resting place of hundreds of thousands of WWI solders.
New research by the Flanders Fields Museum has found that over 600,000 Allied and German soldiers died during the second half of 1917 in Flanders. Died in the Third Battle of Ypres, often referred to as Passendale.
In the Spring of 1915, after the Second Battle of Ypres, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, Canadian physician, wrote a poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ which begins: In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row….’ Colonel McCrae wrote the poem in honor of the soldiers he served with who died during the battle.
The red poppies were one of the first flowers to return to the battle field in Flanders.
Today, worldwide, the red poppy is the most recognizable symbol representing a soldier who has died in battle.
Wearing red poppies was very common in the U.S. from the 1920s through the 1950s. Worn by millions of Americans in the week leading up to Armistice Day; the 11th of November.
WWI hostilities ceased on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
In 1954 the U.S. Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day to honor and remember U.S. soldiers who died in WWII and Korea.
Veterans Day is now a day to honor all military veterans.
But the red poppy is still worn in the U.S. and all over the world as a remembrance of those military veterans who died in battle.
On the Farm we still remember, and honor the service of, Lawrence Hiesterman. He was Grandma Elfriede’s sister Erna’s husband. Lawrence was one of the 36,528 Allied and German soldiers who died during the WWII ‘Battle of Bulge’.
Gone.
But not forgotten.
Teetotaling
Sunny 48 degrees
Humidity 60%
Dew Point 38 degrees
Wind S @ 18 mph
Forecast: Sunny, highs 50s
We’re not teetotalers.
But not really ‘drinkers.’
We’ll have the occasional beer or two with burgers, brats and fried fish. A rare glass of wine. Maybe a sip or two of whiskey with cards. All are part of the normal life on the Farm.
There is also some drinking involved with field work or
cutting or
picking.
Of course, the drink we’re talking about is water. During wheat harvest everyone in the field has a gallon water jug with ice. Depending on the Summer those water jugs are often refilled. You’ll also see coffee or tea in a travel mug and a rare soda pop.
We also carry snacks. These are highly individualized. In my ice chest/cooler there
are; peanuts and apples.
Several sandwich bags full.
Maybe a chicken or ham sandwich. A brat or hamburger. A few cookies. Coffee cake if it is around. Energy bars. Stretch pants.
Well the stretch pants are not in the cooler and they are actually ‘larger than normal Levi’s button fly 501s.’
But i was shocked when i saw Bruce pull a bottle of whiskey out of his cooler.
Bison Ridge.
He took a couple of pulls from the bottle. Smiled. And graciously offered it to me.
It was early-morning.
We were looking at a long hard day, but….
But he is the boss.
And….well one does hate to refuse the boss. I was desperately trying to figure out what kind of day was in store as i reached for the bottle.
I held it up to the sun.
Crystal clear.
Clearer than any moonshine i’ve ever seen back in North Carolina.
Or West Virginia.
Or Arkansas.
I gently took a sniff.
No bite at all.
I gently took a sip.
Smooth.
Smooth as….
Well smooth as water.
Which made sense.
It was water.
Bruce fills old Canadian, Bison Ridge bottles with water. They fit well in his ‘field cooler’. Fit well in the fridge. And they have the added advantage of ‘tweaking’ the casual observer.
Yep.
It’s going to be ‘one of those’ days.
Old School Picking
Foggy 36 degrees
Humidity 60%
Dew Point 34 degrees
Wind S @ 16 mph
Forecast: Sunny, Highs 50s
It is a foggy, frosty morning.
The tips of the grass and
pine needles and
fences and
anything a foot off the ground is frosted.
The air is gray.
Bruce’s house and the mailbox are visible but blurry. The highway, ¾ of a mile West, is just a wall of gray hiding all but the occasional sound of a truck.
Bruce and i are taking our time.
John is in town with Dennis
a lifelong friend
hauling calves to the WaKeeney stockyard. They will be busy all morning. It will just be Bruce and i picking corn until early afternoon.
When we got to the field we started by putting diesel in the grain-cart tractor and a couple of ear-saver flaps on the corn header. They help make sure the ears of corn don’t bounce back out of the header. They are rubber so they have some give but they do get old.
Don’t we all.
Every now and then the ear-savers break and need to be replaced.
After fueling and fixing we moved all the equipment to the West side of the waterway. It cuts across a piece of the field. On the West side of the waterway there are about 20 or so acres to pick.
Just as we are getting going it comes to mind that we forgot the radios.
Radios are a valuable tool in the field. (https://tregocenterdairy.com/wheat-harvest-2019/ Radio Feedback) They help to coordinate equipment and plans. However, radios are a modern farming convenience. Not an essential tool.
Time to go Old School.
This does put some pressure on the grain-cart driver. When the guy in the combine decides it’s time to unload he puts the auger out. This visual signal is generally interpreted as ‘get you’re your grain-cart butt over here’. Now by the time the auger comes out a ‘journeyman’ grain-cart drive is already pulling up alongside the combine. A city-kid ‘driver apprentice’ sees ‘the signal’ and starts booking across the field. Today after a little practice….
Well i never did rise to journeyman status. But at least i was in the right part of the field.
Not actually much to brag about in a 20-acre field.
But you take what you can get!
Side Note: We finished picking Trego Center Dairy corn at 3:25 pm November 5th 2019. Another year in the bin
and books.
The Word
Scattered clouds 44 degrees
Humidity 75%
Dew Point 34 degrees
Wind S @ 5 mph
Forecast: Increasing clouds
Standing around talking.
An important part of going to church. Although not part of the liturgy, this time is set aside by everyone who attends. Living in farm country folks are miles apart.
Most farmers stay in touch and up on the farm news by phone/ texting. A 21st Century thing. Something beyond the imagination of our great, great, great, etc grandparents.
However, socializing after church was squarely in their ‘wheelhouse.’
Being the city kids that are only seen a few months of the year folks go out of their way to say hello. And this Sunday Carolyn was playing organ for the service.
She shares Sunday organ duty back in Greenville. When she is back on the farm she often plays for Sunday service….to give our local
one and only organist
a break.
Carolyn has been playing piano/organ/keyboards all of her life. She and i played in a couple of rock and roll bands and Blues duo. But that is another story.
This story has me talking to folks after church and the one topic that always comes up is harvest. Mainly because harvest
wheat or corn
is when we are out at the farm. Most of the folks going to Zion Lutheran church are from farm families.
No….EVERYONE who goes to Zion Lutheran is from a farm family.
Sitting in the grain-cart tractor later that day i was suddenly filled with a revelation about church.
Nothing pertaining to God and the Universe
but conversations i had.
Several folks asked if we were going to cut corn in the afternoon. Several others asked if i was here to pick corn.
Pick?
Cut?
So driving home from the field at the end of the day i asked Bruce. ‘Do we cut corn or do we pick corn?’
The definitive answer
made without hesitation
is that in Western Kansas we Pick cotton and corn. We Cut wheat, soybeans and milo.
So….we be picking corn!
Cutting across the road.
Partially cloudy.
43 degrees
Humidity 52%
Dew Point 36 degrees
Wind W @ 3 mph
Forecast: Clearing. Warming.
Corn Harvest has been going on for several weeks.
Bruce and John
and occasional help from William,
have really put a bunch of corn in the bin.
Here and in town.
Right now, we are on the field across from the Farm. This field and the one next to the Farm
West & North
is farming convenience at its best. If you’re out cutting or planting or working the ground and need a snack….Well the house is right there. Very convenient! If we are cutting ‘Back West’ i move into the grain-cart tractor.
Gallon jug of ice water.
Apples. Peanuts. A sandwich (maybe two). A candy bar/energy bar.
Jacket. Tennis shoes….my ‘field’ cowboy boots are perfect Western wear. Very comfortable walking around shoes. They keep the sand burrs off. They have steel arch support and steel toes. But, for driving the tractor tennis shoes are a lot more comfortable.
Phone. iPad. Charger cables. Earbuds. Notebook. Pencils.
Cameras….GoPro and 35mm.
Flashlight….a corn/wheat field can get very dark at night when all the equipment is shut down.
But! When we’re working ‘at the Farm’….well everything i could want is less than a quarter mile away. Including ‘sit-down’ dinner.
This field will be finished tomorrow. Early afternoon. Then it’s time to move West.
Time to move into the tractor.
Cutting across the road
Corn Harvest 2019 Begins
October 14, 2019
Sunny 54 degrees
Humidity 55%
Dew Point 34 degrees
Wind N @ 20 mph
Forecast: Rain, Highs 80s
Carolyn with her iPhone and I with my iPad
had just settled down to a long Fall nap.
When what to our wondering eyes should appear
but a new Instagram of corn being cut.
There’s something about farming that seems….
well it seems unchanging.
We prepare the field.
We plant the field.
We cut the field.
People have been doing this for thousands of years.
A Neolithic farmer would be able to look at any farm land in Western Kansas and understand what was happening. Admittedly that farmer would probably start running for Colorado at the sight and sound of a John Deere STS 9660 combine starting up. But the ground, the growing crops and the ripe crops would be familiar.
Wonder if the Neolithic farmer would try and kill the combine?
Mammoth hunting instincts taking over fear.
Trego Center Dairy has always been ‘up to date’.
Modern equipment.
Radios.
GPS.
Auto-steer
Computers.
Agricultural programs.
But Instagram?
Video?
From the field?
The tone in Carolyn’s voice Got my full attention. ‘Is this Bruce?’
Within 10 seconds I was watching the 20-minute old Instagram video on my iPad.
Yep that’s Bruce’s Instagram.
Corn is being cut.
After looking at the 30 seconds of video again, I left a comment. ‘Guess the grain is being piled up at the edge of the field until the grain-cart driver gets there’
I fully understand that harvest has to happen when harvest has to happen.
But I’m not there.
Carolyn is not there.
Carolyn and I are heading to Kansas in a few weeks to help with corn harvest.
Actually, this will be the first time in many years she has been to corn harvest. After she graduated from college she became a city girl. And it is a lot harder
with city jobs
to get vacation time in the Fall. A lot easier in the Summer. For both of us. Of course, now that i am retired from Salt Mine Incorporated i can take ‘vacation’ at any time. But this level of freedom just began three years ago. So, this is only the third corn harvest for me.
Last year was so wet that during my four weeks of corn harvest, i was in the field for only four days. But this year has been drier.
Cutting is starting earlier.
I am really looking forward to pushing my grain-cart skills this Corn Harvest. Increasing my speed with the grain-cart. We have a new header for Wheat Harvest 2019. A Stripper Header. But that is another story.
For now, the story is Instagram notification that Corn Harvest has begun.
We called Bruce.
‘Well the corn on Jim’s place is dry enough to cut. So, we’re cutting.’
Ya’ I guess I can understand that.
‘We’ll be cutting for weeks to come. Some of the corn won’t even be ready for several weeks.’
OK
It’s just that i’ve gotten to where I feel like I should be there. Harvest just won’t run as well without me. Of course, grain harvest has been going on at the Farm for over 100 years now. The crops have always gotten harvested even when i was not there. And they will probably get harvested in 100 years.
As i was drifting off to sleep i realized that in another 100 years we may have the technology to drive the grain-cart from North Carolina. Heck, in a hundred years maybe all we’ll have to do is log onto the Trego-Center-Dairy-Corn-Harvest/Grain-Cart program and click ‘return.’
I think it’ll take a lot of the fun out of harvest but
we’ll get in a lot more fishing.
tregocenterdairy 