October 26, 2008

View of the day-Another ND sunset...red sky at night might be sailor's delight, but it sucks for harvesting.

What a wind! You know it has to be a strong one when Marilyn has to fight to stay standing. Throw in some cold temperatures and it was a nasty day all around.

Apparently there was snow blowing around in the early morning hours, but the wind must have been strong enough to push it straight through to the east because there wasn't a trace of it once we got out to the field around 10am. After Al did his daily "changing of the guard" on the header he started combining.

With the wind blowing like it was 35+mph, tarping the trucks was going to be a chore, luckily the General and one of the semis had been tarped the night before and were ready to go to the elevator, the other semi was a bit of a problem. There didn't seem to be a direction to park it that the wind wouldn't try to take it to Minnesota, the pipe was tethered at either end, but the wind picked up the middle and put a healthy bow in it, making any hope of getting it opened up in the field impossible. Ben had to take it to the yard where there was a barn to break the wind before finally getting it opened...and it stayed that way until the end of the day.

Marilyn had to wait for the elevator to open, so she drove the grain cart until she got the call. Once Ben got back with the semi, he took over the grain cart duties and Marilyn did most of the hauling for the day...well four loads anyway, the last load went back to the farm where they will be hauling next.

Fighting the wind on the way back to the field on the highway was something else, and at one spot a 4ft piece of trim off the hood of the General flew off against the windshield then took off into the wind. Marilyn turned the truck around and tried to find the trim, but the place it had blown off had a slough full of water in it...and now some chrome off the General. Maybe the wind took it over the water...maybe...

The John Deere had a couple of bearings go out and went back to the yard for repairs, so Al was on his own. While Marilyn went back to the farm with the General after being loaded for the last time, Al worked long enough to fill the semi then called it a night. The wind never died down at all and it is supposed to go down to 19°F tonight.

A good time to be curled up by the heater...