The stress level on Father’s Day gradually diminished with each day we were able to be in the field. The weirdness of the changes in the combine began to take on a comfortable feeling…one that felt good. It felt like things were falling back into a “normal” sort of state for harvest. For me. Jim, on the other hand, was  (and still is) struggling with the changes to the hydro joystick. It is different but just like anything else, once you take it on and use it as it’s intended, it begins to feel more and more comfortable.

Things were beginning to click again, as they should. And that’s good! I could tell the days were taking on a better feel. Jim’s face reflected that.

We had full days in the field on Monday and Tuesday. And then a storm rolled in on Tuesday night. The clouds started building about 7:00. The guy at the elevator told me it would be raining at 8:00. I was so hoping we could get that field finished before the rain. There wasn’t much left but if it did, in fact, start raining at 8, we wouldn’t get it done.

At 9:00, Jim called me on the two-way to let me know the elevator was closing at 10:00 rather than 11:00 like it had been. I was hoping we could get the Pete dumped one more time and that would, for sure, guarantee enough truck space to get the field finished. He asked me if he thought I could have it filled before 9:45. I knew I couldn’t. But maybe what was left in the field wouldn’t be more than the trucks could hold.

And then the weather alerts started coming over the radio, the lightening was getting brighter and more frequent and the gale-force winds began out of the Northwest. I was now in full mode of trying to beat the rain!

I saw the light headed towards the combine. It was Jim, with his headlight strapped to his forehead (like a miner). So I stopped the machine and let him in the cab. He said, “I think we need to quit cutting. By the time we get the trucks tarped and the combine blown off a little, it’s going to rain.” I told him there wasn’t that much left out there. “How much is out there?”, he asked.  I responded, “I don’t know for sure but there’s not that much.” He must not have believed me until he touched the display screen and went to the page that shows the field being colored in as it’s cut. “Just keep cutting!” I stopped the machine again so he could get out and watched him walk towards the trucks.

The challenge of hoping just one more round will get you closer to finishing the field before the rain delay kicks in. It becomes a game to see who’s going to win…me or the rain. I didn’t know how much more wheat we had to cut for our new farmer so I wanted to get it done. I hate leaving only a few acres in a field when it’s that close to being finished at night anyway. As luck had it, I was able to finish and it all fit on the trucks. We got them tarped, the combine got its nightly cleaning and we were back to the trailer house before the rain started. We won that round!

We had the next day and a half off. This gave us some time to do a few things that needed to be done and hadn’t been because we jumped so quickly into harvest18 after arriving in Kansas. The rain also meant visitors. Kent Braathen and Dan Misener came from Kiowa for the afternoon. They arrived just in time to help Jim make some adjustments to the feederhouse faceplate. I’m sure they were better help than I ever could have been with knowing what needed to be done and providing the strength to make it happen. I just hung out on the deck of the combine ladder watching and hoping the nasty, biting flies would leave me alone.

Later that afternoon/early evening, we had another custom harvester stop by. Isaac came all the way from Australia just to hang out with us. Not really. He was in the states for a funeral and wanted to look us up while here. He also runs a New Holland combine so he and Jim were pretty much non-stop talking the entire evening. We learned a lot of the same things that our industry in the states fight are also being fought “down under”.  The similarities were crazy!

We got back in the field on Thursday afternoon. And we finished the acres we came to Chase, Kansas for. It was a beautiful evening so we cleaned off the header and blew off the dirt and chaff from the combine. It certainly beat having to do it in the typical 100 degree plus temps!

Chase was a great first stop for us. We enjoyed the farmer and the cutting was EXCELLENT! The crop averaged 45 bushels per acre and weighed 62/63 lbs. We were both very thankful for the circumstances that led us here to work! God is good ALL the time!

It felt good. It felt good to have the stress level lessened and acres under out belt.

We made the first trip to Garden City the very next day (Friday). Once we arrived at the farm, we loaded what we needed in the Pete and made our way north again. Just as we were entering Dodge City, the storm clouds we had been watching began taking on a much angrier appearance. And then the weather alerts came over the radio once again. We were hoping we’d drive out of path of the monster but it overtook us just north of Dodge City. We drove in very strong winds and blinding rain all the way to Larned…that was over 60 miles. Jim even turned on the flashing beacon hoping it would help others see us. So much for loading the combine when we got back.

We weren’t in a huge hurry to get things done the next day but we kept at it and were once again headed towards Garden City…only to be met with dark clouds and storm warnings AGAIN.

We have had nearly 5″ of rain fall on the fields here in Garden since Friday. At 5:00 am on Sunday, we were awakened by the sound of hail hitting the roof of the trailer house. We ended up with three broken sky vents and dents in both pickups. That’s the first time in 36 years that we’ve had damage to our vehicles due to hail. I guess it was our turn. If you haven’t had the experience of riding out a storm like that in a trailer, let me tell you…it’s LOUD!

No hail fell on the wheat…thank goodness!

The Beast is still sitting in the truck stop parking lot – just as we left it when we parked it on Saturday night. Today’s heat and wind will surely dry up the roads enough that we can make our way to the farm and get it unloaded in the morning. And who knows when we’ll get back to the field? Maybe try it later tomorrow? Maybe Thursday? The weather says no more rain and hot. That’s what we need!