I didn’t have time to prepare for the last day of wheat harvest 2019. It just happened.
The last time I was in the combine, cutting wheat, was Friday, September 6. It seems the weather pattern is in some sort of weirdness where it rains every Friday. (It’s supposed to rain again in two days – Friday.)
If I had known this was going to be the last day I was going to climb the ladder and watch that header cut my favorite crop, I would have done things a whole lot differently.
I would have prepared my soul for the last acre. I would have soaked it all in a bit more. I would have taken a few more pictures.
Instead, I just kept cutting that field until the rain shut us down. We knew the forecast showed rain for the next several days. We had no idea just how much rain we’d get or how long it would last.
It rained off and on through the weekend and more was on the horizon for the following week. I suggested going to Thermopolis, WY and sit in the hot spring. Little did I know, Jim would actually agree to go. We left for our four-day raincation on Monday. We returned late Thursday night. (I’ll do another post strictly on this trip with pictures.)
Friday (September 13) was spent in the trailer house most of the day. Ryan and the boys (Levi and Hays) hung out with us all day. I took the little boys to the Homecoming parade while the two bigger boys watched Westerns on TV.
Saturday (Sept. 14) was spent over at Ryan and Randee’s house helping them pack and move to their new house on the hill. The house was built by Ryan’s dad before he was born. Ryan’s older sister, Nicole, and her family lived there for quite a while before moving to Lusk, WY. So being back in that house meant reminiscing and remembering so many great memories. And now, new memories will be created!
Sunday evening, Jim and I made our way out to the field – to check on things and see how much the ground had dried. The past couple of days had been back to summery temps. I was hoping we could get back to work the next day (Monday) as the temperature was supposed to be near 100 degrees.
However, when we went out into the field and looked at the wheat, our shoes were packed with mud. Jim says he told me then he didn’t think we would be cutting anymore wheat. Either he said it so low or my brain just blocked it out because I honestly did not hear him say that.
Monday morning began with Jim telling me, “You’re not going to like what I have to say but I think we need to bring the equipment to town and start preparing for the trip home.”
Gut punch! I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear this. My next thought was, “We’re quitting?” I’m not good at quitting. I usually push through until I can see there’s no more reason to keep pushing. Jim’s thought was he wasn’t going to bury the combine to prove the ground was still too wet to go back.
So, on one of the hottest days while being in Jordan, we moved equipment back to town. Nope…I wasn’t a very happy person.
That was three days ago, already. We began cleaning the combine and header off yesterday (Tuesday, Sept. 17). As the day got longer, the clouds got thicker, darker and the wind got darn COLD! It started raining about 7:00 p.m. and continued for most of the night. The rain gauge showed an additional half inch of rain added to the previous three we got while we were away on our raincation.
Jim didn’t get the dirt blown off the combine before it started raining. This is what happens after three inches of rain.
Today was spent doing our own things. Jim went back to the combine. I began working on deep cleaning the trailer house. All this cleaning makes it pretty real that wheat harvest 2019 is over.
It’s late and I’m certain the crops at home are changing by now. BUT…I really wish I could have climbed out of the cab on the 6th knowing it was my final day of wheat harvest. Yes, I know…it’s a sickness!
I will end this update with pictures of the last days of harvest.
If you want to see what happened between this post and the previous one, you’ve got to head on over to the All Aboard Wheat Harvest blog.
WONDERFUL recap – thanks for sharing your season. it’s so interesting to read about operations so much larger than ours, and your photography is well-done and exciting. clapclapclap. we rent out the cropland on our little farm here, and this year, our new renter is doing just corn and hay. it’s only about 60 acres. both crops have been absolutely beautiful – which is amazing since we had such a late, wet spring. but he got it all prepped and planted at just the right time. probably the only three dry and sunny days we had in the spring. best wishes for your work at home this fall and winter. i’m a relatively new reader, so will be going back in your blog to learn more. –suz in hilly northeast ohio.
I’m sure you’re referring to the larger operations being the farmers we cut for. We aren’t farmers. We only own the one acre our house sits on in Nebraska. Thank you for your kind words about my picture-taking abilities. Photography has always been something I have loved to do. I just never really did anything with it. I just love taking way too many pictures! I hope you’ve gone back to some of my earlier writings and have learned a little more about me and my family. If you ever have any questions, please let me know! My email address is zcrew82@gmail.com. So glad you found my blog!
Tracy
ahhh – no, i knew you were custom cutters, but you mentioned something above about the crops changing at home, so i thought you meant you still had beans or corn to harvest at home yet. that’s why i need to go back in your blog, lol.
a lot of places around here are on third-cut hay now and silage, but beans are still in various stages of green-ness, with only a little bit of gold, because of the late spring planting, and field corn will be well after that. we also have a lot of veg and fruit growers around here, and while the sweet corn and tomatoes have been better than usual, apples and peaches have been ok, but not at good as last year. more than you wanted to know, i’m sure … and thanks for the email address. –suz in ohio
Yes! You’re right!! We do have beans and corn to do at home. Jim and “The Beast” will go help the same farm family he has for the last 30 some years. No trucks are needed so it’s just the two of them. I have never had anything to do with fall harvest until last year. I helped some friends with their fall harvest last year by driving their combine. I had never cut soybeans or corn – more than just as a brief sub while Jim had to do something else. That was a whole new learning curve for me. It takes way more thinking to cut both of those crops – especially when it involved terraces. By the time it was over last fall, I sort of felt like I was getting the hang of it. They asked me to help again this year. It will be good to crawl back into the cab of a combine, especially when it will be very similar to ours. I’ll try to blog about my experiences with fall harvest again.
Oh no! Don’t apologize for filling me in about the other crops that are grown and harvested around your area. I love hearing about all and anything that has to do with harvest.
Enjoy your posts. Keep it up! Charlie
Why thank you, Charlie. With encouraging words like yours, I will keep at it. 🙂
thank you for another season of interesting writings and pictures. I find comparing your years interesting and informative. Well Done ! You share wonderful insights into a life most of us will never know, especially for those of us that grew up on a farm. Thank you for all of your efforts. from North Carolina.
Gosh, Gene, this is probably one of the nicest comments I’ve received. Thank you! I started this little blog thing in hopes of educating others about what the heck we do. Comments like yours makes me feel like all my efforts have been good. And this makes my heart happy. God willing we’ll be back again next summer! I’m learning not to take things for granted – you never know when things can completely change. So thankful for readers like you who continue to read my words. 🙂
Until the “ beast “ roars again. May you always find a strong signal 🙂
🙂
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog and following the adventures on Facebook. I’m sorry that your season had such an anti climactic ending. I love Combine harvesters, have ever since I was a kid and even got to drive one for a season. 🙂 . You would think with the English weather the harvest would never get done but in my part of England the summers can be pretty dry, if not a bit on the cloudy side. Mark in Northamptonshire, England.
This is the BEST part about social media. To think that someone from England reads what the heck I write (or video) just blows my mind! It’s such a small world…it really is. I love being in the combine. I just don’t understand how someone can sit in the cab every day, all day long and still say that. I honestly believe it’s a sickness of some kind. 🙂
Thank you for letting me know you’re out there, Mark! I appreciate hearing from you!!
As you are probably aware all that rain in the upper Missouri river watershed plus the heavy rains we have had here in eastern Nebraska has caused the river to flood again. Interstate 29 is closed in some locations because of high water.
I feel your pain! Many years ago I had a customer decide he could finish his corn on his own so I went from full steam ahead to full stop over night. Didn’t get closure that fall, didn’t get to say goodbye. 😥
To me…that’s the worst! Those connections are sometimes difficult to explain but they’re real and when you can’t have the closure (even with a simple goodbye), it just doesn’t right. Thanks for understanding!