June 15, 2008 - Happy Father's Day!

View of the day-Al gets to combine almost all day. Here he cuts a patch in the new field to park the rigs.

Another wet morning, this time it wasn't just the dew, but a shower that passed through and left enough moisture to hold us up for a while. The sun came out around noon and with the sun shining and the wind blowing...making it feel like 102...the combines started rolling around 3pm.

Since there was a bit of a wait, Marilyn decided to get some laundry done...along with a pile of harvesters and locals. The laundromat here in Cherokee has been the victim of various forms of vandalism and has really gone downhill. A lot of the washers and dryers weren't working, so it took a lot of time to get things dried...well, not completely dry...there are a lot of things hanging to dry in the camper. It looks like a

clothes fight took place. A real shame about the laundromat.

Al finished the field that Marilyn had started yesterday and by the time he was done and moved to the next field, Marilyn had the laundry back at the camper and was ready to take over combining so he could dump the trucks he had filled.

Marilyn started in on the field and made a couple of short rounds, working out the wheat around the crevasses left from the water running from the rains. About halfway through the second pass the separating fan alarm went off. After going out and inspecting what the problem was, with the help of the farmers, it was time to call the Pro Harvest brigade in...they would figure it out.

The clouds had started to bubble up and the severe warnings were out for the area and it seemed like lightning was flashing all around us as we waited for Ray from ProHarvest to show up. By the time they made it out to the combine, it was dark but they were able to determine that we needed a new shaft for the fan...we'll know more about what happened when they take out the old one. The rain came, once again we only got a short shot, but who knows what fell out at the field.

The line up was shorter today at the elevator. The road past the camper was busy all night as the semis were loading out to Enid to make room for more grain. The rain slowed things down and it was a good thing because the 10,000 bushel leg that moves the grain blew a belt on the top and was out of commission for the day.

What a treat it is to be combining such a good crop here in Cherokee. After the last couple of disaster years, it really is a blessing for these farmers...