And We're Off.....Sort of

Our harvest began about ten days ago (time flies), but it's been a bit hit and miss.  The pea harvest took about a day since most of our peas are rolled up in bales or pulverized from the hail.  So then they waited for some lentils to be ready cutting a hundred acres every couple of days.  Not good for the bottom line when we have a rental combine sitting idle.  On the bright side, the lentils are thick and tall (for lentils which don't get tall) and running well.  We've had so much rain and higher humidity than we're used to that there is some mold on the plants. Yesterday we finally got a good day of cutting in so maybe we'll be on a run from here.

I've been on lunch duty except for the day I was at work when K took over.  She and the baby have moved to their camper so they can see J once in awhile and he won't have to drive those extra miles home.  I'm excited that I can see the baby every day.  I had to laugh when I was helping her unload the pickup into the camper because her camper is better stocked than my house has ever been.  I think the guys were pretty excited to have her do lunch.  They know I'm not into it.  I can't even plan, I don't have the gene.

Yesterday she and the baby rode out to the field with me when I was taking lunch out.  She got to go home, but I had to stay to help them make a move down the road.  I was happy to get some reading time in.  I was riding back to town with C in a truck.  There's this monstrous hill to climb to get to the highway.  C has spun out on it before, and I think it makes him nervous.  It makes me nervous!  We made it up the hill fine and had just turned onto the highway when there was a funny noise and then an alarm that the engine had no oil pressure.  He turned it off right away and went out to investigate.  There was no oil leaking anywhere, and ultimately I think they determined it was the oil pump.  Not good since the engine had just been overhauled.

Anyway, C called J who was going to get another truck to pull the disabled one into Richland and get the load off.  In the meantime, we're sitting on the highway and C decided to see if it will coast so we can get it to a better spot.  He took the brakes off to see if it would roll.  At first it didn't seem like it was going to, but then it slowly started inching forward, and we were off....one mile, up a little rise, two miles, down a hill, three miles, then a hill and a curve.  We didn't think we'd make it up the last small hill, but we did, made the curve and had Richland in our sights.  He finally had to use the brakes to make the turn into Richland, with no power steering, and we finally came to a stop about a block from where our bins are, close to five miles from where we started.  About that time J called to see where the heck we were.

Never a dull moment here...and, now, if anyone asks, I can assure them that it's all downhill from Glentana to Richland.

My Legacy

As I mentioned in my last post, we lost a neighbor and friend last week and M's aunt the week before that.  Two funerals in ten days kind of gets a person thinking about their own mortality.  It does me, anyway.  Maybe that's part of why I hate funerals.  Like most people, I don't want to think about that stuff.  And my husband REALLY doesn't want to think about that stuff.  We're both pretty lucky that longevity runs in our genes.

Our neighbor had had a bout with cancer a few years ago and some other health issues at times so he and his wife had discussed what kind of funeral they wanted.  I always tell M that if he's having a funeral I'm not going, and I'm afraid no one would come to mine!  We are very private (borderline antisocial?) people and the thought of a big to-do just freaks us out.  After the last funeral I told M that I just couldn't imagine myself in my friend's position, losing a husband.  He said maybe I won't because he'll take me with him.  That would be okay with me.  His usual answer about what he'd want is, "I don't care.  You just handle it."  So, then I told him I hope I go first so he'd have to deal with something on his own for a change!

At our neighbor's vigil someone commented that sometimes you'll read a glowing obituary and think "that's not the person I knew", but our neighbor really was that nice.  I don't think anyone ever had anything bad to say about him.  He was kind, honorable, involved in the community, just an all-around great guy. 

That started me thinking about what people would say about me when I'm gone, and I felt kind of sad because I don't think anyone knows the real me.  Sometimes I even feel a bit invisible.  Could anyone write an accurate obituary or give a good eulogy?  Will my boys remember me as a great mom or just a mediocre one?  Will my grandchild(ren)have learned something from me?  Did I touch someone's life somehow?  Was I the perfect wife?  I can answer that one, no!  Was I a good friend?  I tried to be, I meant to be, but it's hard to put myself out there, and I'm not much fun.  They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  I'm full of good intentions, but I don't think hell is where I'm headed.  Did I make good use of my talents?  Again, I can answer that one, no!  Hopefully, I have lots of years ahead of me to work on a few things.

I've told my boys that they can put me in a pine box and save the money for a big monument on the hill behind my house (lighted, of course, and with a fence around it so the cows can't rub on it).  I may not have been noticed while alive, but I'll be noticed when I'm dead.  I also told them that I want my headstone to say "she just wanted things to make sense", and I want to be buried in my Steelers gear because no one else will want it.  I may have made a mistake, though, when I told them that if I ever have to go to a nursing home just run me over with a truck.  One of the boys seemed a little overeager.

See why I hate funerals.....they make me think too much.

What I Learned on My Vacation

We finally managed to get a few days away last week. We left last Thursday and had to be home Monday. Sadly, we first attended the funeral for M's aunt, his dad's sister, so we got a late start. We knew that would happen so made a reservation to stay in Hulett, Wyoming that night. Hulett is a small town, but it was the start of the motorcycle rally week so it was gearing up for the bikers. When we went to eat we were pretty sure they had pulled out the "rally menu". Prices were a bit steep for a little hole-in-wall bar/restaurant. Food was good, tho.

So, this is what I learned on our trip:

1) M is not big on hiking. Actually, I already knew that. Devils Tower is just south of Hulett. We've been there before but had never actually gone into the park and up to the visitor's center. It was about 110 degrees the last time we were there. It might have been 60 degrees this time. Devils Tower has always fascinated me the way it just rises up out of the prairie. So, I got him to go through the gate (and pay) and up to the visitor's center. Then I gave him no choice but to hike around the base. It was a beautiful hike and only 1.3 miles. Didn't think I'd push for the 8-mile loop.

2) Next I learned that golf is sort of like riding a bike. It just comes back to you. We didn't golf at all last summer and probably only once the summer before that so we thought we'd be a little rusty. We went to the course in Sundance, Wyoming. It's a nice, little course, our speed, and we'd been there before. I was worried about how my back would feel and M worried about his elbow, but we did fine. We opted to do nine holes since it was cool and cloudy, and we weren't sure of the weather or our abilities. By the time we finished it was turning into a beautiful day, and we were wishing we'd done 18 holes. We score a little differently than most people. A good day is when we find more balls than we lose. That day we were a +3--we lost one and found four!

 From there we went to Spearfish, South Dakota for lunch and then on to Rapid City. We had a little shopping to do with birthdays coming up and baby gifts to look for so we went to the mall until M's sister was done with work. We met her at their bar and tested our bowling skills. The last couple of times we've been in Denver for baseball we went to an Irish bar, Delaney's, and they have mini bowling lanes. M's sister, Pam, is a bowling fanatic so of course we had to try them out. Pam's husband, Ray, decided to put some into their bar, and we tried them out.


 3) One good round of golf does not necessarily translate into a second good round. On Saturday we went to the Elks course in Rapid City with Pam and Ray. It's a tougher course with more obstacles....and more people. M golfed a good round, but I didn't have a great day. And, we were -6--lost six balls and found none! We had hoped to go up to the Tomahawk course near Deadwood, but Ray didn't have time before he had to go to work. There are some beautiful views up there.

 4) Sturgis during the motorcycle rally is not the place for me. We took a little trip up to Sturgis on Saturday night to see the sights, and oh, the sights we saw. At the first bar we went to the waitresses looked like they were in their underwear. Bet their moms were proud that they had a summer job! The number of bikes in town was staggering, and the rally had just started. I wonder how many tattoo artists and T-shirt vendors were there. We were happy when we ran out of motorcycle traffic on our way home. They make for an interesting driving experience.

5) It is important to check Facebook wherever you are. We have friends that live in Minnesota but have family in Rapid City. I'm always telling them that we need to coordinate our South Dakota trips so we can see each other once in awhile. I knew they had been there around July 4 so didn't check to see if they'd be there when we were. By chance, I saw a post on Facebook (which I wouldn't have seen if I didn't have my IPad along since I can't get it on my phone when I'm out of area) saying they were on their way to South Dakota. I immediately texted them to see if we could get together. They arrived in town on Saturday and were leaving on Sunday so we met for breakfast on Sunday morning. I'm so glad we were able to connect since it had been three years since we'd seen each other. We need more than an hour every three years, though.

6) Life is short and uncertain. I've really always known that, and I didn't learn it on my vacation, but it was definitely reinforced when we suddenly lost a neighbor who was the husband of my good friend and the father of R's best friend. They were married just a week before we were and have kids the same age as ours, so it was quite the wake-up call and devastating for the whole community. Made me hold my husband a little tighter for sure.

Our trip was good but too short, and it's been a busy week since we got back. If the weather ever straightens out we'll be full steam ahead into harvest.

Oh, Hail!

The nasty stuff finally hit us on Saturday. It was a bit of a deceiving storm. I was home in the afternoon mowing and noticed that the sky was getting dark so I finished up, took my laundry off the clothesline and went inside. J called awhile later to see if it was raining here. The wind had come up and the way the sky looked I thought it should be pouring, but it only sprinkled here. I watched a nasty cloud that was headed to the southeast so thought the heavy stuff had missed us. Wrong!

It appeared that the storm hit about at the barn at R's. There must have been a raging river through the yard there that took out this brace. Notice the tree branch stuck in the brace that washed down from the house. There are branches and leaves everywhere! R's girlfriend was here for the weekend and her car was covered in leaves and grass when they got home. When she got it cleaned off she discovered lots of hail damage.

We took a little farm tour on Sunday morning. Talk about depressing. Almost all our peas are wiped out as well as the neigbor's who we farm for. These pictures were taken about 18 hours after the storm and look at this bank of hail.

This used to be a field of peas.

And a wheat field.

Not only is there the financial loss, but it creates a mess and changes plans for next year. We don't want it to be a weedy mess so will have to spray it all again, and it is pretty sandy soil so we're worried about it blowing if it gets dry (which is always does here at some point). We still have lots of good crops out there, so we hope any future storms don't bring hail to any of that. I'm trying to look on the bright side...a shorter harvest. Maybe we'll be able to make the race in Kansas this fall.

Long Weekend....and Week

Our weekend was a little crazy because we were the only members of the whole family that were home. R was in a wedding near Helena and left Wednesday night leaving his puppy with us. C headed to Canada on Friday while J left on Wednesday to see an orthopedic doctor (more on that later) and a reunion of K's family on the weekend. Thankfully, Jared came to help us instead of going to the lake with his parents. That was, however, a bit of a mixed blessing. M had Jared on the swather while he was trying to bale, but the swather was having some issues that Jared wasn't able to deal with. M is used to calling J or C to figure out what could be wrong and fixing it so he could continue with his baling while conditions were right. He was feeling very alone with no backup. Add to that the fact that he was baling about 30 miles from where Jared was swathing.

In the midst of that I did the unthinkable. He asked if I would come help him get his tractor unstuck and I said I was too busy, which I was. My nephew was going to come the next day to do some trim work for me so I was trying to get some stain and varnish on the trim and later was headed to town for a massage and couldn't reschedule it. I was sure he was somewhere where he shouldn't have gone so didn't feel very sorry for him. A few days before he had sent me to get Jared unstuck and all I did was get myself stuck so I didn't want to go there again.

While R was gone I had to deal with the DirecTV installation at his house. That was interesting considering the technician looked like he (and I use that term loosely) was in the middle of a sex change. Josie (Joseph) had some manly features but had a ponytail and was wearing a cap that said "Cowgirl" with bling, women's jeans, eye makeup and I'm pretty sure a bra. Hard not to stare, I'll tell you. I was disappointed that no one saw him/her but me. He was from Miles City and had an 8-year-old son. None of that computes in my mind!

R and J were home by Sunday night but that didn't improve things much. J has a separated shoulder from tipping over his side-by-side while chasing the neighbor's cows out of our lentil field. You can imagine how happy that whole situation made him. The doctor is recommending that he just wait and see how it feels in a month or so and then determine if he needs surgery. Of course, it's his right shoulder so that makes it even more disabling. Jared will have to be his right hand man for awhile. Hopefully, he won't try to do too much too soon. We were really feeling sorry for K putting up with him while in pain and crabby plus a baby and a dog and several days in Billings. She was happy to see him head to the farm on Monday.

R moved the swather to Opheim but continued to have problems and ended up making two parts runs to Glasgow. Then he smacked a deer on the way home. Not a good day! The next day we had rain so they spent more time working on the swather but had to wait for a part to come in. Hopefully, it is rolling now.

While they were waiting for the parts to come in they did some fencing so that we can move our big bunch of cows when we get some time. We've had some bull trouble in one of our other pastures. The neighbor has 150 heifers that aren't to be bred but aren't spayed next to our pasture so the bull wanted to go visiting. They moved our herd back across the road a week or two ago so that four fences and a road might keep him with the herd he was supposed to be with long enough to get them bred. R moved the cows back yesterday and brought the bull home. The only traveling he'll be doing now will be to the sales ring.

M says we are going to disappear for a week but I'm not holding my breath. He still has a lot of haying left to do.

50 Shades of Green

Everyone comments on how green it is here this year, but as I was looking across the fields the other day it occurred to me that there are so many shades of green. From the mint green of the pea fields to the kelly green of the wheat to the olive green of the grass hills. Throw in the white flowers on the peas, the yellow flowers on the mustard and the purple alfalfa flowers in the hay fields and there is a riot of color. Then add the smells; of the mint in the bogs, the sweet clover and now the alfalfa. I walked out my front door this morning and was assaulted by the beautiful smell of alfalfa. I could go on about the numerous wildflowers, most of which are past their prime by now. One day when they were at their peak we were moving cows and I spent more time looking at the ground to see what was growing than I did watching where I was going!

Some years by this time the dog days of summer have arrived and everything is turning brown, but thankfully, we have had some July rains (affectionately known as "money makers") this year. I had lots of opportunities to gaze across the prairie today as first I made the trek to check on the solar pump. That's about 8 miles of prairie trail (and 3 gates) to the east and takes about an hour to get there and back. Then later I took backroads to pick up M who was baling even farther east. I enjoy the sight of what some people may call nothingness, just wide open prairie under the big sky.

Peas flowering

Peas, wheat, lentils and mustard

Peas, wheat and grass hills

Haying (There Goes July)

It's official, haying has begun. R started the season off by swathing the highway ditches and then moved to some leased land early last week. M gave him some days off so that he wouldn't get too far ahead of the baler which wasn't even out of the shed yet, and then we had rain so they're not making fast progress. M raked some this morning and did finally make some bales this afternoon, but there is more rain in the forecast for the next few days so he's not sure he wants to lay any more on the ground right now. Last year it seemed like the haying season went on forever. R tells me it won't be so bad this year since he's here to help. I hope he's right. I'm still holding out a small glimmer of hope that we'll have time to do something fun before we get into harvest. Even M took the 4th off and we took in the festivities for the Scobey Centennial celebration. The high point of my day was babysitting my granddaughter for a couple of hours and getting some smiles from her.