6. June...

June started out with strong storms and lots of rain. We were fortunate to only have gotten half an inch here and there, but there were areas around that had in excess of 5 inches! Even with the rain that fell, we were able to get rolling later on in the day, and although we didn't get a lot of acres done, it did take some off the total that had to be done.

The weather had gotten back to normal for Oklahoma, we had drying weather, hitting the low 90's, and the winds have picked up. Combines are going all over the place, it's hard to tell where the highway is at night with all the lights in the fields from the various crews trying to get finished so they can move up the road to the next stop. A lot of crews have already moved on, some are stranded further south, waiting for things to dry up. We have a bit of time before we have to head north. Al has found, with every load he takes to the elevator, they ask how many acres we have left and do we want more work, cause they know a couple of farmers looking...

So far Marilyn has managed to get in a couple of 100 acre days, which really helps to whittle down the acres left to do. It makes for long days, but with XM satellite radio to pass the time, the acres go by. It's surprising how familiar a field can be from year to year. It used to be when Al would say "I combined that field...", Marilyn would always add "...in 1942", because he always remembered where the fields were (although he had a tough time with city addresses).

Now Marilyn is finding herself doing those things, and it seems when you spend 15+ hours travelling over every part of a field, checking out the scenery, it does tend to stick with you, and you actually look forward to getting out there every year. And the views! Today we worked on a field right along the top of the Red River. On a perfect Oklahoma day, great cutting, great weather and beautiful scenery, what's not to love about this job?