Wheat Harvest 2017

Shockney 

Partly cloudy, 77 degrees
Humidity 45%
Dew Point 56 degrees
Wind ESE @ 8 mph
Forecast: Sunny

We’ve got someone new at the Farm.
Shockney.
A used quarter horse. Well actually an American Quarter Horse on the mend. She had Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis.  She will probably never be a ‘riding’ horse again, but she is a perfect pal for Norman.  They’re even have the same rust colored coat.
Bruce is on a skeet shoot team. Some local folks who are willing to travel….at least as far as Nebraska. And as long as it doesn’t interfere with farming. Several years ago, Bruce set up a skeet practice range on the pasture up the hill, across from the house. One afternoon a year ago i went up while Bruce and a teammate were practicing and….well, that’s another story. But in this story one of Bruce’s skeet shooting friends was looking for a place for one of his
America Quarter Horse’s to spend some rest time.
Shockney.
From the moment Shockney got to the farm she and Norman started hanging around together. Norman had been feeling down since Millie died in January. It got to the point that he just walked out to the bail-feeder, ate, then laid down. Wouldn’t show any interest in what was going on. Didn’t even get up when semis got parked on the East side of his pasture.
But when Shocney arrived Norman was up and around like a young bull with attitude. The first day Shockney showed up, Norman took her on a tour of the pasture. Pointed out the old milk cow feed bunk. The new circular bail-feeder. The water tank. A shady place by the milking parlor. Got her a stall in the old barn she could call her own. It was like they were long lost friends, reunited after years of hard times.
Shockney was very much a family horse.

Used to being around people, and, to be honest, showing off. She was a barrel racer and a good one.  She loved the attention the ribbons brought. But the EPM knocked her down. Down on all fours. For awhile the vet thought she might not make it. But she is a fighter. At last she was up and walking.  She might never wear a saddle again. Almost certainly will never race again.  But, you never know. Now she just needs a quiet place. And caring friend.
Although she sometimes misses the cheers of the barrel racing crowds she likes the easy life at the farm. And, of course, there is Norman.

 

 

 

Leonard Coyote 

Sunny, 98 degrees
Humidity 20%
Dew Point 51 degrees
Wind  @ 18 mph Gusts to 20
Forecast: Sunny

Leonard Coyote lives up to coyote reputation. Could be because he is a professional. Could be the way he was raised. But whatever shaped his life he is wily, cunning, shrewd and takes advantage of every God given opportunity. Leonard is a very well-crafted coyote.
Bruce and i drove to Simpson Farm Enterprises Inc. the other day. Simpson’s is on the Trego/Ness county line. Bruce needed some 2.5-inch hose-line for the air-seeder.
A couple of miles South of the Farm we saw Leonard. He was sitting on the West side of highway 283. Sitting ramrod straight. His mother, or mine, would be proud.
Coat shiny. Ears perked up. Tongue hanging out.  It was a hot day. In fact, this was exactly what an early wheat harvest day should be like. Too bad wheat harvest is over and we need a little rain.
Leonard was surveying the road.  More king than coyote. He watched us go by without so much as flinching an ear. He knows this highway well. From the town bicycle riders to the big cattle trucks, Leonard knows when to move and when to watch. Waiting for the bounty that modern technology provides.
Today he was looking for dinner. There is a couple of mile stretch of road where animals, mostly rabbits, opossums, an occasional pheasant and the like, go to meet immortality. Often, helped along the way by semis. Or pickups. Cars will usually try to break or swerve. Bigger vehicles can’t do much but hope this is the animal’s lucky day. If not, well it is a lucky day for Leonard.
Although Leonard likes the hunt, hot late Summer days are meant for taking it easy. His Winter coat has started to come in. Overheating and dehydration is a killer. Although asphalt will blister even well-conditioned paw pads, a quick dash on mid-September asphalt allows one to pick up a fresh kill and carry it off the road before the heat even becomes noticeable.
On the way back from Simpson’s, Leonard is gone. But there is a fresh blood trail and some crushed weeds where something has been dragged off the road.
Some coyotes don’t get along near humans. Some are outright nuisances. Leonard has struck a bargain with local humans. If they won’t hunt him, he won’t hunt chickens, cats and small dogs….although he is often offended by the yipping sound small dogs make. It’s a sound that mimics coyotes but without any class. Or reverence. However, Leonard is a professional and a deal is a deal.

 

Lil Quacks

Lil Quacks
High clouds, 66 degrees
Humidity 85%
Dew Point 61 degrees
Wind SSE @ 9 mph
Forecast: Sunny

Jan & John are just about finished with their house (check out ‘Concrete’ blog on 6.20.16). At least they are taking a break. The pergola, started on Eclipse day, is done. The back porch is done. The chicken house is now raccoon proof, so the pace has slowed down. Too bad Lil Quacks is not here to see it. But he’s on ‘walk-about’.
When Jan & John first got their livestock (chickens and ducks) they ended up with a few too many roosters. The ‘head rooster’ is Bob (Bared Rock). An elegant bird with a cocky attitude who likes to strut….but that’s another story.
At one point a little while ago there were five roosters and a handful of hens and two ducks. As youngins, they all got along quite well. As time passed rivalries developed. Hormones kicked in. Cock fights developed. Although this is a natural occurrence (no pens, no betting, no formality) it was quite disturbing. The roosters began a reign of terror. Even the ducks (Crested Whites) were dragged into the testosterone laden fray. Daffy took to guarding Rose (Production Red), hen. For some reason this seemed to give him credibility with the rest of the roosters.

Lil Quacks however was picked on something terrible. He’s a pacifist at heart. He’ll take a lot of abuse before he pecks back.
Jan & John tried to calm the situation but even John’s ‘chicken whisperer’ abilities couldn’t bring peace.

In the midst of it all Lil Quacks headed to the corn field just behind the coop. Jan & John headed into the field to find him. And find him they did. Lil Quacks forgot that he quacks as loud as the roosters crow.  As soon as he saw Jan & John he shut up and sped down a row of corn. Cut across another and headed West.
Jan & John walked for a couple of hours but never found Lil Quacks. Seems he has gone on walk-about. Hopefully all he will face is his fears and not a coyote. Or raccoon. Or opossum. Or dog. Or….
Too bad he left. Three of the roosters have been fired. Bob and Chippie have come to an agreement and seldom is heard a discouraging word.
But i have heard that when the wind is just right in the early morning you can hear a far off quack or two just before the roosters crow.

 

 

Eclipse 7.21.17

Partly cloudy, 86 degrees
Humidity 28%
Dew Point 48 degrees
Wind S @ 13 mph
Forecast: Sunny.

We all got caught up in solar eclipse fever. Pretty much from coast to coast.
Hilary’s friends (and future graduate school housemates, Taylor & Douglas) live in Davis, California. They kept us up to date on the West Coast viewing. About 85% of total in Davis.
At the farm, John and Bruce spent a big chunk of the morning pouring concrete for John & Jan’s East entrance pergola (what our Dine’ friends would call an arbor). Jan spent a big chunk of the day sending us photos of pergola progress and a running commentary about the eclipse. About 90% of total in WaKeeney.
Jessica (Clayton Andrew & Jessica in Topeka) is an optometrist in private practice. She started discussing the hazards of eclipse viewing, especially for kids, back during wheat harvest. A week or so before the eclipse she began posting viewing suggestions, warnings, safe ways for kids to view the eclipse and links to reputable online resources. About 99% of total in Topeka.
Pam, Don, Ellie & Michelle (Denver) went to Wyoming. Visited cousins Peggy & Mike and had Midwest ringside view of the eclipse at total. Although they were only five hours North of Denver it took them almost 12 hours to get home. Seems most of Denver was driving North to see the ‘sight of the century’.
Muriel & Steve and the boys (Lawrence, Kansas) headed North of Kansas City. Cloudy disparaging moments, then, just before totality, the clouds parted and they saw it all. Eli, on the other hand, (‘Bike Run’ post 8.6.13) headed straight North of Lawrence, Kansas. Clouds that  unfortunately did not open. So, normal cloudy darkness just got darker.
Carolyn, Hilary & i (Greenville, North Carolina) made a pilgrimage to Charleston, South Carolina on the Atlantic Ocean. Charleston is the last place on dry land where the eclipse will be 100%. We began preparations for the eclipse two years ago. Teamed up with friends Bob & Lily (Greenville folks who are good friends from church who became really good friends of Elfriede’s and avid followers of all things Trego Center Dairy).
Throughout the day, we kept in touch with everyone. Especially interested in what the chickens and Andre’, AKA: Boo (new kitty at Jan & John’s) thought of the eclipse. Compared stories and photos. Think Bob gets the award!

 

Summer Breeze Makes You Feel Fine 

Sunny, 86 degrees
Humidity 42%
Dew Point 64 degrees
Wind: SSW 9mph
Forecast: Sunny, high 80s

There is a rhythm to being in a wheat field. Time stops. Well not stops. Things outside the field still keep trucking along. But in the field….well time takes on a new meaning. Time becomes a rhythm all its own.
Combine, grain-cart, semi
Combine, grain-cart, semi
Combine, grain-cart, semi
Combine, grain-cart, semi
There is also a sound to the rhythm. Every piece of equipment has a sound. A unique sound all its own. Even with eyes closed anyone who works in the field can tell what machine they are sitting in. I’ve heard sailors say that every ship has its own sound. Even if they are identical ships. Our ship sounds different than their ship. i’ve also heard sailors say the first few days of being home after a cruise are often sleepless days. And nights. They miss the sound of their ship.
Of course some sounds can be turned down….even off. The combine also has the header. Which makes its own set of noises. When it is cutting wheat and the combine is threshing the wheat there is a surplus of sound. But turn the header and the thresher and the radio off and the GPS off and the combine still sounds like the combine. Even for a city boy it is obviously not the sound of the grain-cart tractor. And the grain-cart tractor sounds are different than the field tractor sounds. They’re both John Deeres, nothing else on this farm, but the 8330 and the 8310, sound different. Similar, but different.
This afternoon the cutting is slow. Sitting on top of a rise in the field i can see the whole field and well beyond. Got to thinking about sounds and started turning stuff off. Got down to the engine and decided to turn that off.
I forgot how quiet a Western wheat field can be. Also forgot how hot a tractor cab can be. Lots of glass and lots of sun.
So i open the door and back window. For a little bit there is the faint sound of oil dripping through the engine. It soon stops. Now there is nothing but the sound of the field.
A nice breeze from the Northeast and a few bugs float through the cab.  Then the sound of the combine.
This is the field with the Big Valley. When the combine heads down into the valley it disappears. Not only from sight but also from hearing. Nothing but the warm breeze. i slide the seat all the way back. The steering wheel all the way forward. Lean back into the soft breeze of the field. Nothing but field sounds. The breeze blowing through the cab. The occasional buzz of an insect checking out the inside of a tractor cab. The sound of a semi running down the road a couple of miles off. Nothing but soft Summer sounds.
Suddenly the shattering sound of ‘Bob? You there?’
I’m here. On the floor of the cab. It’s hard to fall out of a tractor cab seat, but i pulled it off. Fortunately, the cab is small enough that i can reach the walkie-talkie from the floor.
‘Yup. On top of the ridge.’
‘Good’ says John, ‘i need you to meet me on North end of this run.’
‘OK. On the way.’
One nice thing about the Big Valley is that when the combine is out of my sight, i’m out of its sight. So John didn’t see me flailing around as i was jerked out of a peaceful doze by the walkie-talkie. i may have been asleep for five minutes or so but i’d slipped right down to a very enjoyable deep sleep.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed, i got over to get the wheat before the combine was full. John off loaded the wheat and i was heading for the semi. Wide awake and into the rhythm of the field.
Combine, grain-cart, semi.
Combine, grain-car, semi. Funny think about a Summer snooze in a wheat field….it is the best sleep on the Earth.

 

 

Beachbull 

Sunny high clouds, 84 degrees
Humidity 90%
Dew Point 74 degrees
Wind S @ 5 mph
Forecast: Intermittent rain high 83 degrees

Once upon a time there was discussion of sending the Trego Center Dairy cows on vacation to the Caribbean (post; May 13, 2011). Turned out passports were necessary for the Bahamas and the cows just didn’t want to get passports. Something about passport photos making them look ‘frumpy’.  So we never got photos of Holsteins having fun in the sun and surf.
However, last week Hilary and Tara (a high school friend and former college roommate of Hilary’s) took a mini vacation. Just for the weekend. They went to Manteo, North Carolina. Home of the Lost Colony and the play of the same name (http://thelostcolony.org). Megan (a former high school friend of theirs) is in this Summer’s, 80^th anniversary production.
They, Tara and Hilary got to Manteo by late morning on Saturday. Met up with Megan and ‘hung’ around. Went out for dinner. And then went to the play. The say that the production was outstanding and Megan’s performance was gifted.
After the play was a cast party. Seems each month a different group holds the party. This month’s party was held by the actors in Megan’s apartment.
Tara & Hilary are both scientists.
Tara a biologist. Hilary a chemist.They have known Megan all through high school and college. Actually, Hilary has known Megan since they were both about seven years old. They met in gymnastics. Hilary has been good friends with the triplets (Megan, Maddie & Matt) ever since.
Even with all this exposure Tara & Hilary are still the ‘odd’ folks at the party. By beach time the next day Hilary & Tara were a bit worn out.
Now at Nag’s Head Beach you might expect to see an occasional horse.

But a cow? I was a bit skeptical when Hilary sent the photo of the bull on a leash, at the beach.

I even accused her of finding the photo on the web.
She then sent several more photos as proof. Several with Tara & Megan in the foreground. And some video.
Hilary said she noticed a truck and cattle trailer in the beach parking lot. But after a month at the farm this didn’t jump out as unusual.
But a beachbull?
On a leash?
Hilary said there is a sign at the beach parking lot that says all dogs must be on leashes…..so…..

 

 

 

Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls & Hometown Bakery 

Sunny, 80 degrees
Humidity 70%
Dew Point 64 degrees
Wind SE @ 8 mph
Forecast: Scattered clouds high 85 degrees

 

Still too wet to cut wheat. Perfect time for a town run. Hilary, Xavier and i.
Expecting a lot of stores to be closed tomorrow.  July 4th. So, heading to town and get everything on the ‘town’ list and anything else we can think of that we might need for tomorrow.
I’m big on lists. Probably because i’m always thinking great scientific and philosophical things. Ordinary things get crowed out. Or it could be that i have a lousy memory. Always have. Even in my youth. Bruce however, seems to remember everything. From baseball scores to where to find a 3/8ths socket wrench to the bushel yield of a field 10 years ago. Also what to get in town. If i’m at the farm there is a small notepad on Grandma’s kitchen table. Page one….on the top of page one….’town’.
A regular town run has a routine. First stop at the Dollar General. Then Heartland Foods (formerly WaKeeney Food Center). Then depending on what is needed, maybe the Bank. Maybe Stephens Lumber and Supply. Maybe True Value Hardware. And on occasion Daylight Donuts & Hometown Bakery.
My first introduction to Daylight Donuts in WaKeeney was years ago. On a day, much like today. On a town run, much like this one. Bruce and i stopped by for a donut and coffee and placed an order for the next day. Since we were still milking, Joyce made the run into town the next morning. At about 6:00am. When milking was done, the donuts were invitingly on Grandma’s kitchen table. Grandma didn’t seem to mind having the Daylight Donuts & Home Bakery donuts in her kitchen. Primarily because the donuts are homemade AND they are homemade by someone else.
Hilary and i have been talking up the donuts to Xavier. Told him story after story in mouthwatering detail. Even talked Xavier into getting up for an early town run tomorrow morning. Maybe 6am. Go to Daylight Donuts. Get coffee. Get a donut. Pick up some donuts to take back to the farm.
Since Daylight Donuts & Hometown Bakery is only a door or two south of True Value, Hilary and i decided to treat Xavier, and ourselves.  Maybe order some cinnamon rolls for tomorrow.
We walked the two doors south to the Daylight Donuts. Stopped at the door.
Daylight Donuts & Hometown Bakery is now a sandwich shop. We trudged back to True Value. The folks there said, yep Daylight Donuts is no longer there. No, they didn’t move. Just sold out to the sandwich shop, which makes very good sandwiches….but no donuts.
Another American landmark passed into history. Nothing to do but tell stories. Nothing to do but….well maybe….a fair number of the family make Grandma’s cinnamon rolls. Make them pretty well too. All we need is a schedule. Rotate time at the bakery. Bruce, John and i could take turns going in early to do the prep work. Make the dough. The first round of coffee.
Other members of the family could show up around 5 to start making rolls.
Others come in about 6 to wait tables.
Others show up early afternoon to clean up and restock.
Of course, we’d need a new name. A new sign. A website. Logo.
Something to honor Daylight Donuts. Something to honor Grandma.
‘Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls & Hometown Bakery’.
Now, how to talk everyone in the family into moving to WaKeeney and….

 

Shoes

‘Its my feet what
most hurt me all my life.  When
i was a little girl my
mama sold a calf to get
some money to get
me some new dress up clothes.
But the calf didn’t fetch much so we
got a few things and mama took my old shoes to a man in
town who cut the heels down some and
stretched the leather a little.
But they still didn’t fit right.
I used to cry whenever mama made me
put them shoes on. My feet hurt so.
Hurt me ever since.
It weren’t until years later Aunt Ruth told me how mama
used to cry every time i had to wear them shoes.’

 

 

TCD Uber service 

Sunny 86 degrees
Humidity 34%
Dew Point 42 degrees
Wind S @ 10 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy, high 85 degrees

The last time Hilary was at the farm for wheat harvest was 2013. Since then her summers have been full of school. Working on organic farms in Germany, atmospheric chemistry research, ocean chemistry research. Guess it all goes along with summers in college. This spring she graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in chemistry. Go figure.
This summer she became the ‘go to’ Trego Center Dairy Uber driver. At any given moment we have a combine, grain-cart, two semis, the flatbed field truck and a field pickup out in the field. At any other given moment, we need these to be moved. So, there is a fair amount of shuttling drivers back and forth.
It is also common to have people brought out to the field. Or taken home. And, of course, there are snack runs and dinner.
This wheat harvest Hilary was first call to be our pickup driver. And just like city Uber drivers she got calls to be at a specific field at a specific time. By the time wheat harvest was over Hilary had gained a thorough knowledge of where the fields are located. And the best roads to take to get to them.
She also put a fair amount of time in the equipment. Especially the semis and combine. And even some time in the grain-cart tractor.
But this year’s ‘calling’ for her was pick-up Uber driver.

 

 

Trego Center Cyclonic Vortex 

Clear 92 degrees
Humidity 56%
Dew Point 60 degrees
Wind SSE @ 12 mph
Forecast: Chance of rain

Everyone complains about the weather. Always have. Probably always will.
There is even some recent research showing that the 30,000-year-old cave paintings in France were actually comments about the weather and how it affected hunting.  Certainly, the paintings were made on rainy days when no one could go outside and play.
About 40 years ago Dave Breeze (former Marine Corps buddy and best man in our wedding) and i decided to do something about the weather.
Well about all the weather complaints. We hadn’t, at the time, figured out how to control the weather. Actually, we still haven’t. But we did figure out that most people who complain about the weather just want to let off a little steam. They plan something and the weather doesn’t cooperate and they just need to let somebody know about it. Grumble a bit. Tell somebody (usually whoever is standing around) that they are upset. We realized we could do something about that.
So, we took turns being ‘responsible’ for the weather.
A year at a time.
One year i’d be the complaint desk. Next year Dave would get the calls. If i heard someone griping about the weather i’d say ‘Hey, i know the guy in charge. Here is his phone number’. If it was my year Dave would pass along my phone number. It seemed to help. People called upset and snarling and hung up laughing.
Dave died a few years ago.  Our system broke down.
Too bad too. Because i now have something i want to talk to someone about.
All country folks, especially farmers, pay very close attention to the weather. The weather is probably the most important variable in farming. Over the years i have noticed something odd about Trego Center (the farmhouse is about a mile North and a little East). There is a cyclonic vortex located right over Trego Center.
In the winter and spring when we need rain, there is rain….all around us, but not ‘on’ us. When we needed sun, there was sun….all around us. But not on us. Snow? Same thing.
Sleet? Same thing.
I looked up the Kansas weather statistics online (the Gov’t is actually very good about tracking and publishing numbers). A few clicks and i found the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) National Weather Service Forecast Office in Wichita. They have maps and charts and graphs of rainfall, sun, snow, wind for all of Kansas. Statistics going back to when the Plesiosaurs were the big dogs in Kansas.

 

Come to find out there is no scientific evidence whatever that there is any sort of ‘cyclonic vortex’ over Trego Center. But i’m convinced this may be another case of ‘alternative facts’. Not saying there is a conspiracy to hide the Trego Center Cyclonic Vortex, but ever since the 1960s i’ve always been a bit leery about big business and big Gov’t.  However, without Dave around i’m just not sure who to call.
The weather has driven us crazy this wheat harvest. Rain when we have a lot of people at the farm. All the help we need. From food preparation to grain-cart driver. Then hot and dry Kansas wheat harvest days we just have a ‘skeleton’ crew.
I’m sure Dave would have listened. Patiently. Even let me yell a bit. Then suggest i go fishing.
Well the day after wheat harvest was done, we did go to the lake. A little fishing. A little swimming. Some serious raft riding.  No time to really look for Nessie’s cousin.

 

But i’m sure she’s out there. You would have heard more about the Cedar Bluff Lake Monster but there has been a conspiracy to cover up the details. Maybe this year the facts will come out. Maybe a photo. Maybe the new Bob Popper’ (Wheat Harvest Crew Disbands 6.2915) will help us land it.

 

 

County Roads

Clear, 74 degrees
Humidity 75%
Dew Point 66 degrees
Wind S @ 5 mph
Forecast: Clear, mid 80s

Country dirt roads in Western Kansas are generally flat. An occasional dip and rise here and there but most of the time a driver can see someone coming a mile or more away.
The dirt helps.
Dry dirt produces a cloud of dust. Kind of like a ‘rooster tail wake’ behind a fast-moving boat or jet ski. Often times this dirt rooster tail is the first hint that another vehicle is around. Just like a rooster tail on a boat, a country dirt road rooster tail smaller and darker as it comes off the vehicle. It then grows in size and lightens in color and can usually be seen several miles away. (Combines also produce a cloud of dirt and chaff when they’re in operation. Not as dramatic as a dirt rooster tail but they are unique to something going on in a field. This time of year, that ‘something’ is almost always cutting wheat.  A quick look around the horizon shows who is cutting).
On a dirt road, a quick look will tell not only which direction a vehicle is heading but also how fast it is moving.  Locals can even tell if it is a semi or truck or car well before they actually see the vehicle.
County dirt roads are regularly graded. Smoothed out.
Well the term ‘regularly’ kind of depends on whether or not your road has been recently graded. Just after a rain, even a light rain, ruts can form. Quickly. And people being people usually want ‘their’ road graded as soon as the dirt is dry. Of course, dry means different things to different people.  For the big yellow road grader, dry is iron-hard dry. For city boys, like David (Janelle & David) and i, dry can be a bit less than road grader dry.

We were headed back West. To the field just North of Aunt Leona’s. Although Aunt Leona died about 23 years ago, the description sticks. The field just North of Aunt Leona’s will be ‘the field just North of Aunt Leona’s’ for several more generations.
We were actually on a road heading North several miles before the usual turn by Mo’s place (Mo, by the way, is alive and well and farms ground near Aunt Leona’s). But the road heading to Mo’s place had a short stretch that was still wet. Wet even by city standards, and we knew it. So, we took another road. It was dry. About half a mile from where we turned, we came on a small patch of dampness. The dirt was dark brown instead of light brown. Tan, iron-hard dry dirt is usually a light tan. This road looked just wet enough to leave a slight track. I wouldn’t think twice about riding my bike along the road. So i was quite shocked to feel the pick-up fishtailing all over.
I slowed down.
Turned in the direction of the skid. Got past the wet spot without eating any weeds. Even David seemed to approve of my skills gained from 10 years of winters in Colorado.
Once we got past the exciting part Dave looked over. ‘Country Ice’, he smiled. Yep he nailed it. Almost exactly like driving on ice. As we talked we decided that there is Country-Road ‘Black Ice’. According to NOAA ‘glaze ice’ (AKA: black ice) happens when a very thin layer of transparent ice forms on a road surface. This transparent ice shows the surface beneath it, often asphalt, so it looks black. Black ice is almost invisible to drivers. First time they notice it is when the car is sliding. David and i decided that there is a country-road counterpart. Fine dirt and sand. Hit this dirt at the wrong angle or break suddenly and you’ll be sliding.
According to the Kansas Department of Transportation about 5,096 crashes occur on rural roads every year.  Although the Kansas DOT lists a number of causes for these crashes; deer, overturns, work zones, police pursuit, even pedal-cyclists, there doesn’t seem to be anything for ‘Country Ice’. May have to send them an email.

 

Truck on the run

Sunny, 94 degrees
Humidity 35%
Dew Point 61 degrees
Wind SSE @ 11
Forecast: Sunny, high 88 degrees

You don’t often see a truck trying to run away, but i guess occasionally even an old truck wants to go ‘cruisin’.
The dogs like to go for a ride. Any chance they get.A pick-up, semi, four-wheeler, tractor or anything with wheels is good enough for them. Anytime.

 

Shadow, Heidi and Stache (as in moustache) will even chase a truck or tractor down the drive and out on the road. Max seems to be content with just going to the edge of the drive. Maybe it is because he is a Corgi and they just aren’t built for distances.

 

It is common practice at the farm to make sure the dogs are in their pens (Heidi and Stache) or on the porch, on a leash or in the barn before someone drives out.

During harvest because of all the activity, it is not unusual for folks at the farm to get a text asking them to go let the dogs off the porch, or out of the barn….or a pickup. It is perhaps shameful to admit that i have tricked dogs into getting into a truck that isn’t going anywhere. Usually the white field truck. Usually when it’s parked in the shed. Shadow, Max and Stache will bound into a pickup if invited. Especially if someone holds open the door and says ‘let’s go for a ride’. You’d think they would figure it out. But i guess the thrill of riding outweighs any other consideration.

However, in all my time at the farm i’ve never seen an old feed-truck trying to run away.

 

Lady Bugs 

Sunny, 76 degrees
Humidity 68%
Dew Point 62 degrees
Wind SSE @ 12 mph
Forecast: High clouds

A combine is a relatively violent piece of machinery. It cuts the wheat (or other grain) stem. Feeds the stem, with berries (seeds) still attached into the combine. There everything is torn apart. The berries are separated and stored in the tank on top of the combine and the straw flies out the back. The new combine, The Moose (see post on 6.24.2013), is an awesome piece of machinery. It is an STS (single tine separator) combine. It processes the wheat (tears it apart) differently than traditional combines. Still pretty violent. So when i climbed on top of the semi i was amazed.
There are ladders on the front and back of the semi-trailer. Occasionally i climb up to check the wheat. Just see what it looks like. When the semi is almost full it is fun to lean over the edge and stick my hands into the wheat. Kind of like playing with sand at the beach, but with super-sized grains of sand that you can eat.

Today when i looked over the edge of the semi the wheat was moving. Not all of the wheat, thankfully, but there was certainly movement. When i looked closer i realized that there were ladybugs climbing on the wheat.
Maybe 25 ladybugs, here and there. Yellowish brown ladybugs with black spots, walking around apparently unhurt. They had been on the wheat. Rode the wheat through the combine and ended up in the combine grain tank with the wheat berries. They were then augered out of the combine into the grain-cart. Augered from the grain-cart into the semi. And now seemed to be looking for a way off that pile of wheat.
Occasionally i’ll see a small bug who has made the ride from field to semi, but i have never seen a ladybug convention before.
I helped several off. They seemed appreciative. At least they have a story to tell when they fly away home.

 

End of wheat harvest 2017 

Sunny 90 degrees
Humidity 48%
Dew Point 50 degrees
Wind SE @ 7 mph
Forecast: Sunny

Saturday, 7.8.17, Wheat Harvest 2017 is in the bin.
Bruce & Hilary finished the last piece of a field. ‘Up North’. Well actually it was Bruce and Clayton Andrew. Bruce in the combine. Clayton in the grain-cart. Hilary was riding along with Bruce. This was the field where we started and would have finished first….but then the rains came. We moved to dryer fields. Since the rain has stopped and the ground has dried we’ve been going 11 & 12 hours a day.
The field Up North has a nice slope to it. But not as big a slope as in the field we were just cutting. There is a slope there that swallows combines. Big combines. On several occasions after taking wheat over to a semi, i went back to where we were cutting only to find that the combine was nowhere to be found. I was suddenly filled with visions of folks who were abducted by aliens. ‘Beamed-up’, sometimes in their car….but a combine?! In my momentary panic i visualized trying to tell the family, sheriff and the media how a 32,661.5 pound combine and driver just disappeared. More importantly….where was the wheat! (Rule #1 for grain-cart driving: Don’t spill the wheat!). Of course, it always worked out that whoever was running the combine had just followed a terrace to the other side of the ‘Big Valley’.
Funny thing about this field, from the top of it i can see two cell towers. Awesome reception! Four bars (circles on an iPhone) and LTE wireless. Go down into the ‘Big Valley’ and there is one bar and 3G. This is one of the reasons we use handheld radios in the field. One for the combine, one for the grain-cart and one for the semi. They work pretty well over a mile or so. On several occasions when the combine was lost i could talk to the cutter (driver), even when i couldn’t see the combine. This actually added to my anxiety….’Well officer, i couldn’t see them but i could talk to them like they were right next to me’. Oh, ya’ this is going to look really good on TV.
We (Hilary, Clayton Andrew and i) finished the Big Valley field around midnight. Since the elevator in town closes at 9pm we stored the last of the wheat on the semi’s and grain-cart. These have tarps so there is no worry about any rain getting to the wheat. We then moved both semi’s and the field truck back home. Left the combine and grain-cart for the morning. By the time all of that was done it was, as Hilary points out, almost 1:30am. Didn’t get to bed it was almost 2.
This morning Bruce drove the combine ‘up North’. Began cutting about 11:30. Clayton Andrew drove the semis to town and went back to the field with the purple semi and dumped the grain-cart wheat on the purple semi and took it to town. Hilary and i then met him Up North and Ubered him back to get the grain-cart. Which is how Hilary got in on cutting and earned bagging rights of saying she saw the last wheat of the year cut.
A little after 3pm all the wheat was in town and the equipment was back at the farm. Time to get cleaned up and head to the Golden Carrol for dinner. A wheat harvest tradition. On the last day of wheat harvest, assuming it was not too late in the day, Grandma Elfriede would take all of the crew who are still at the farm to the Golden Carrol in Hays. This ‘honor’ now falls on Bruce.  In keeping with another Grandma Elfriede tradition, my first pass at the never-ending buffet was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Actually, this was also my second pass. But as Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof says, ‘we have traditions for everything… how to eat, how to sleep, even, how to wear clothes’….fried chicken, very well and no baseball caps on while in the restaurant. Yeah, it’s good to have traditions.

 

Kansas Borealis

Rain (maybe), 71 degrees
Humidity 75%
Dew Point 64 degrees
Wind E @ 14 mph
Forecast: Severe Thunderstorms

Finished cutting the Canyon. The Canyon is not a canyon. No high cliffs or bluffs. It is, or was, someone’s name (Kenyon, Bruce tells me) who lived there years before it was sold to Trego Center Dairy. But like most place names it persists years after the people or events that gave them names. Perhaps years from now folks will be asking if the wheat is cut over on the Mai.
Almost all of our wheat is cut. Just a few acres up North where we had to leave it when the rain came last week. But we’re helping a friend cut some of their wheat. So, there are a few days of work ahead.
We finished cutting just before sunset and began moving the equipment; combine, grain cart, service truck, field truck, black semi to the new field. The black semi, in keeping with the recent run on nicknames is now Betty. Betty got her name from a comment at the Co-Op when Bruce took a semi load there last week. Been thinking of getting ‘Betty’ painted in script on both sides of the engine hood. Like so many old black and white photos of airplanes.
All in all, this has been a year for weird weather. A really warm spell in early Spring confused some of the wheat. Thought Summer was here. Then cool and serious wet weather came again further confusing the wheat. However, what was confusing the wheat was exciting for the wheat curl mite, but that is another story.
After the big move, Hilary and i headed home. I was in the small white 1970 Chevy C60 Grain Truck with 2-speed axle full of seed wheat. It is small for 2017 standards, but the standard farm use grain truck in 1970. Hilary followed in the white field truck.
Hilary had been our equipment movement Uber driver. After a piece of equipment was delivered to the new field she’d drive the equipment driver back to the Canyon to get more stuff. Earlier in the day Xavier, John & Jan’s grandson, served as my personal chauffeur for over an hour. If felt good to kick back. All part of my retirement lifestyle.
All and all this day went well. Bright sunshine with a steady wind out of the South.
Early evening some clouds developed in the Northeast. No worries, of course, the night before we got a little unexpected rain. Unexpected to the point we hadn’t even tarped the semi that had grain on it. Fortunately, the rain we got was just a sprinkle. Hardly measurable. Of course, tonight there is no ‘cut wheat’ to worry about. Its all in granaries, safe from rain or snow or sleet or gloom of night.
Once home Hilary, Xavier and i were relaxing. Looking at videos of harvests past (some of our farm videos have background music by Xavier’s dad, Jeremey). We were waiting to make sure Bruce made it home. I checked a weather app. There was bright red, yellow and green about 25 miles to the West of us and moving our way. But this is not unusual. Often, we’ve gotten ready for a downpour only to have the weather veer off North or South before it gets to us. And the colorful band of rain didn’t look very wide. No worries. The weather should scoot to the North of us a few miles. Or perhaps to the South a few miles.  All we would get is a Kansas Borealis….lightening of all kinds. All around.
I went out front. Set up a lawn chair right in front of the garage door.  This gives a very nice view of the South and West. Also, a bit of the North.  The garage blocks the light from the main farm yard lights so the sky view is ‘unpolluted’ as astronomers say. In fact, on a clear night the Milky Way truly is milky and it takes more than a quick glance to pick out the major constellations. There are just too many stars.
Tonight, there are clouds and it feels unusually quiet. Guess the animals have settled in for the storm. So i have….with a double pour, neat, (2 ounces no ice) of Laphroaig and a ‘retirement cigar’ from Bruce.

 

Flashback 

Sunny, 80 degrees
Humidity 76%
Dew Point 70 degrees
Wind S @ 10 mph
Forecast: Scattered clouds high 90 degrees

Took Carolyn to the airport. Kansas City International.
I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.
I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.
They got some crazy little women there
And I’m gonna get me one.  No. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.  I’ve got one! Just had a momentary 23-year-old, flashback (i’ll explain in a minute).
We left the farm at 4:30am. Carolyn driving. By the way, farm girls drive….well they drive…. They drive with authority. But we had a plane to catch. So she was the obvious choice. I drive….sedately. i’ve always liked sports cars. Used to own (inherited from my grandmother) a 1962 Studebaker Golden Hawk Gran Turismo.

My best friend in high school, Dr Bruce, had an Austin-Healey Sprite Mark II. We more or less lived in. Sometimes we went fast. In my grandmother’s hands the Studebaker would flat out move. Hmmmm, my grandmother wasn’t a farm girl but she lived her whole life in Kansas. Maybe it’s a Kansas girl thing.
But for me the really fun part of crusin’ in a cool car, was crusin’ in a cool car. Let people (OK girls) look at you. Just riding along putting on a show. When we were seniors in high school Dr Bruce’s older brother was in town for a family trip. He was about three years older than us and had a bodacious 1968 Camaro SS convertible. Dr Bruce said i should occasionally take the car out just to make sure it was OK.  As soon as i sat behind the wheel, i was in love. When it was all said and done i’d put about 1,000 miles on the car. Never left the county. Never went over 55. Just crusin’. Cruised by every high school in the county. Sometimes life is really, really good. Of course i had to hide out when ‘big brother’ got home. But, as always, Dr Bruce had my back.
Carolyn and i made it to the airport in good time. Plenty of time to check-in, say good bye, get coffee.
After she left i got gas and started back to the farm. 307 miles. Somewhere just East of Abilene i was hit with the 23-year-old flashback. A mid 1960s VW bus with mid 1960s surfboards strapped to the top.

The flood of memories not only filled our Sequoia but left a significant cloud behind me. The semi behind me had to turn on his lights and pulled around. With complete abandon i followed that ‘micro-bus’. When i finally passed, my flashback was complete. The young couple in the V-Dub matched their vehicle. The dude driving is an uncanny Jerry Garcia look alike.
As i drove by i flashed them a peace sign and cranked up the Grateful Dead channel on the Sirius, leaving a trail of memories all along the highway.

 

 

Black dirt

Partly cloudy, 87 degrees
Humidity 40%
Dew Point 51 degrees
Wind SSE @ 7 mph
Forecast: Clear sunny, high in the mid 80

 

Black dirt shows up in almost every story about farming. Black dirt is rich dirt. The kind of dirt where anything and everything will grow. People talk about how black the dirt is in Nebraska. Or Illinois. Or Indiana. Or any favorite place. People brag about how black ‘their’ dirt is. Even we brag about it. But during harvest we want tan dirt.
Tan dirt is dry dirt.

We need the kind of dirt a combine, or grain cart or semi can drive on without digging in. Without leaving ruts. The kind of dirt that will barely show tracks. Good firm tan dirt.
However, some of the dirt in this field has a distinctly black dirt look. Especially near the bottomland. (This field has some gentle hills on part of it and this ‘bottomland’ collects water). Kick this dirt over with a boot toe and it even smells damp.
Harvest dirt, however, smells dusty. It leaves a thin tan layer on everything. Windshields. Dashboards. Tractor seats. Clothes. Glasses. Handkerchiefs. There’s even a tan dirt taste on the chips in the snack bag. But during harvest these tan dirt nuisances are very endurable.  Dry dirt is dirt we can drive on. Dry dirt is harvest dirt.

 

 

 

GlenRobert 

High Clouds 80 degrees
Humidity 50%
Dew Point 49 degrees
Wind SW@ 9mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy, high 85 degrees

Actually, we don’t have nicknames at the farm. At least not many. So when John christened me GlenRobert, i was….interested.
One nice thing about ‘retiring’ are the parties. For someone who is currently at the ‘retiring age’ partying is a part of life. Well not actually a part of life now, but once upon a time we were the party animals.
After dinner, it was time to party. John & Bruce started the celebration by giving me a bottle of Glenfiddich. 10 year, no less. Now Scotch is not a ‘family’ thing. However, it could become a retirement thing. At least for me.
Throughout my life i was an avid drinker of wine.  Didn’t actually drink a lot of wine but loved really good wines. Especially very dry red wines. Cabernet Sauvignons were always my wine of choice. Even with fish. Although the cost of wine does not necessarily correlate with the quality of the wine, i’ve never batted an eye at spending $70, $80, $90 or more for a bottle of good wine.
Three years ago, at a Robert Burns party (January 25^th), i got to try several ‘very good’ Scotches. I was smitten. Within days i had jilted my lifelong love wine and began an affair with Scotch.
Contrary to what is shown in movies Scotch is meant to be sipped. Usually a ‘neat pour’ (2 ounces, no ice) will last me an hour or two. One of the really big differences between Scotch and wine is that it’s OK to ‘recork’ a bottle of Scotch. Probably a very good idea.
John retired last Spring. Retirement for John just means no longer going somewhere and getting paid by someone. Since ‘retirement’ John & Jan have transformed an old milking barn into a remarkable two-bedroom house. They spent well over 40 hours a week in retirement.  And it shows.
Last Spring, at the beginning of the milk barn conversion, we found out from Bruce that John had a taste for Scotch. Must be an old hippie retirement thing. He also has quite a knowledge base. So naturally we brought him a bottle of single malt.
This year i retired. John & Bruce got me the Glenfiddich. 12 year. Which made the evening parade along very well. Seems my Scotch-Irish ancestry came alive.  Along with a truly unforgiveable Scottish brogue. Before the evening was gone John had christened me GlenRobert.  A nickname that seems to be sticking.
Could be worse. A lot worse, and not much better.

 

 

 

If the cab is a rockin’ 

Partly cloudy, 80 degrees
Humidity 60%
Dew Point 64 degrees
Wind WNW@ 10 mph
Forecast: Cloudy

Modern tractors, combines, semis, pretty much all big farm equipment come with radios. Many have CD/USB/Bluetooth/GPS virtually ‘hands free’ operation. Well with autonomous cars actually in the market i guess autonomous farm equipment is in the future.
Bruce said something about Alice Cooper having a radio show. Nights with Alice Cooper.
I saw the Billion Dollar Babies Tour in Kansas City. Sometime in the Spring of 1973. I think it was May. At least school was out but Summer school hadn’t started yet.
I had a great time. At least i’m told i had a great time. It was during my ‘lost years’. But i do remember Alice Cooper. At least bits and pieces. For an acoustic guitar slinging hard core rock n’ roller, it was quite a concert.
Over the years i have heard a number of interviews with Alice Cooper. It seems that off stage he is pretty much the opposite of his stage persona. Go figure. At least i figured it would be good to set one of the tractor’s radio presets to the local Alice station. Well worth the effort. From 7pm to midnight the grain cart tractor is a rockin’. Don’t bother knockin’, climb on in.

 

 

White hot sky blue

Sunny, 99 degrees
Humidity 27%
Dew Point 43 degrees
Wind SW @ 10 mph
Forecast: Rain

2pm.
Sky blue.
White-hot sky blue.
The kind of color that becomes tangible. Can feel it. Smell it. A hear it kind of blue.  It is the color that says Western Kansas wheat harvest.
This is our second ‘full’ day of cutting. John is now in the combine. Bruce running semis to town. I’m in the grain cart. Tweaking the John Deere tractor cab. It is an 8410. Takes a few days to make the cab ‘mine’. Radio presets-set, set. Paper towels, window cleaner, water jug stored just so. Phone plugged in. Rear window blind (old bath towel) hung. After a day or so my ‘Summer office’ is ‘my’ Summer office.
Today everything is flat-out wheat harvest mode.  Equipment is all running perfectly. The crew is in sync. The rhythm is on.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) radio says there is a severe storm warning for our area. I just don’t believe it.  Even if NOAA is the radar/information/forecasting gurus all of the weather apps use, they’ve got this one wrong.
Just step outside. It is a white-hot sky blue Kansas day.
9:20pm.
Chased out of the field. Rain. Lightning strikes three, four hundred yards from where we are cutting.
Ah well. Still a good day of cutting some fine wheat.

 

Happy Solstice

Sunny, 90 degrees
Humidity 37%
Dew Point 43 degrees
Wind SW @ 10 mph
Forecast: Rain

Happy Solstice 2017.
Sunny with a good dry wind out of the South.
Around 10am Bruce & Hilary left to go check the fields. Started ‘Up-North’ wound around and ended up at John & Jan’s. The corn back West got some hail damage, but with a little bit of luck (as Alfred P. Doolittle would say) the corn will come back again.
The report from the inspection tour was that we are good to go Up-North. We’ll be able to cut today. And a goodly amount.

1:30pm
After dumping a grain-cart full of wheat on the black semi, Bruce sent me home to get the purple semi. Hilary, who is doing wheat-field-Uber service, came and got me.
In my youth i drove a soda pop truck. A semi. The kind with big overhead sliding doors. Three or four to a side, filled with cases of soda-pop. Cases of empty soda pop bottles on top. Just can’t put empty bottles on top of a truck in the 21^st Century. But back in ‘my time’ it was a wonderful thing. On a calm, Summer day, bees would buzz from bottle to bottle whenever the truck was parked. And when a gentle wind was blowing across the top of the truck….magic.
Anyone who has blown across a soda pop or beer bottle knows the fun of trying to make a clear, steady note. Different sized bottles and different amounts of liquid produce different notes. And fifty, sixty, seventy notes all together is a symphony.
That was the last time i drove a semi, semi-regularly.
Bruce and i have been on a ‘checkout’ ride. I can still manipulate a two-speed transmission. And i can keep the semi between the ditches. I can even back up. Although a video of me doing so would get millions of YouTube hits. But there is a slight chest tightening when i’m sitting alone in the semi cab.
But i got the purple truck from the house to the field.
Bruce said to park it anywhere i like. After all, i’ll be the one dumping wheat on it. So, as i drove into the field 53 thoughts came to mind. Put the truck nearer where we are working. Put it closer to the road. Put it on a slight rise (not a terrace!). Put it facing into the wind. Put it facing away from the wind. Put it facing out of the field so it is easier to move when it is loaded. Put it facing away from the sun, so the cab doesn’t’ get too hot. Put it….
I put the semi right behind the black semi.
‘The better part of valor,’ said Falstaff, ‘is discretion’ and there is quite a bit of black dirt in this field. More about black dirt later.