4. The wait...

As the days passed, more and more trucks loaded with all manner of harvesting equipment could be seen moving south along the highway through Davidson. The local campgrounds filled with campers originating anywhere from Texas to Canada. After killing time through a few days of drizzle, we finally got a couple of warm days which gave us hope that we would soon be able to do a test. Just when we thought we would be able to give it a go, the tests from a couple of different fields were 16% and 19% moisture. The elevator said 13.5% was as high as they would go, so it was more "hurry up and wait".

Every year for the past 15, Case IH has been having a Harvest Kickoff breakfast and safety meeting in Frederick, about 12 miles to the north of Davidson. This year, as with most, they ran it for two days, and we attended the second day. Our theory was that everyone tends to go on the first day, so if we go on the second day, less people means better odds on winning one of the door prizes. Now, normally this has worked in the past, but because of the rain, a lot of guys came both days(free biscuits and gravy...). Al won a hat, and Marilyn got shut out.

With weather forecasts stating four days of rain, some harvesters did manage to get started later on in the day and the local elevator took in 15,000 bushels before the rains started. It rained most of the day, bringing 1" of rain, and it remained cloudy and humid through the next day, with sprinkles throughout the night. More waiting...fortunately, with the dish, Al is not far from a hockey game at any given time, and Walmart is only 20 miles away. Hey, it's excercise...who wants to walk in the rain?

The crop is trying to turn, and now it seems all the rain is going to make the fields a bit of a challenge to navigate. Al says he doesn't care what happens, he is leaving here July 1 whether we are done or not!