View of the day-Al rushes back for another waiting cart load.
What a day!!
We were rolling early since Marilyn had to drop Al off at Harrold to dump the grain truck. Back at the field, Marilyn serviced the combine, discovering at one point that the auto shut-off nozzle on the fuel pump doesn't work anymore...that is, it doesn't "shut off". The first "Valdez" of the season. Now, either the fuel isn't that great or the 45 mph winds did a better job of cleaning off the two gallon spill that had splashed all over the back and sides of the combine...into the wind, no less.
A 9:30am start to the combining day...Al was already on his second load of the day, but it wouldn't last. The lineups got longer and longer as other crews discovered Harrold was the only place with room. They had put some grain in flat storage in Frederick and the end wall buckled...no pics...yet. It is pretty frustrating to have such a great crop and no where to put it...which means not getting it off the field. Combines sit loaded everywhere waiting for trucks to return. Al talked to one truck driver who said he got in line at Frederick yesterday at 1pm and weighed off at 7pm!
Marilyn finished the 100 acres that were left on the big field and moved over to the other field to open it up. After driving until the combine was full, it was exercise time...a walk back to the other field to get the grain cart...don't laugh now...it was uphill and against the wind although only about a block to the gate. The Freight was parked about three blocks into the field(best description of distance for the 'city folk' that check in here), the cart two blocks and the pickup and shop, one block. Al wanted to make sure the Freight was close to the gate so it wouldn't get stuck if it should rain, so that was the first thing that got moved. After moving the tractor up to the pickup, Marilyn hooked up the shop trailer and planned on moving it to the gate as well, but once at the gate decided-what the hell, and moved it over to the field that the combine was in and then walked back for the last time. Finally it was time to move the tractor and cart over to the other field so she could get back to combining.
For the past two days there have been forecasts of nasty weather for today, but they all claimed it was going to be to the west of us, moving north. While Al waited at the elevator, Marilyn continued combining, watching as the occasional puff of happy little clouds started to form a larger and larger gang with every round of the field. Still not too concerned, but with a watchful eye to the west...she thinks it's west, Texas fields are a bit on tilt...she watched as the wind blew harder, lifting the dirt off the plowed fields almost to the clouds. It still didn't seem to be getting closer, but because this field was in a bit of a hole, there was no weather band signal to find out exactly what was going on...phone signal was in the crapper, too. And the radio...
We like to listen to the local stations to find out what is happening on the weather front. Kansas is amazing for shutting all programming down and going live, even to the extent of storm chasing. This area is a whole 'nother country, as they like to say...we can't even get a local news report in the morning, never mind some weather.
Well, as usual, the forecasters were wrong and the storm started getting uncomfortably close, so Marilyn decided to bail...and no, she did
not follow the rule of "not leaving the field till the water is running off the header"...it wasn't even raining at that point. After dumping the combine and tarping the cart...no easy task in that gale force wind. She had a quick chat with the farmer and headed for Harrold to pick up Al. He was the next one in line when they shut the elevator down...what luck. We got around four miles from the elevator when the rain and wind hit hard, and we drove through it all the way back to Davidson, about 15 miles.
When we got back to town it was black..no power for us, so this is getting done on laptop battery power. No phone either...dial up would look pretty good about now. It could be worse, our farmer at the next stop called Al to let him know there had been some nasty weather go through taking out barns, big trees, and power poles were snapped...they might be looking at days before they get it back. It's interesting to note that the weather forecasts kept talking about "power fluctuations"...kind of a bizarre thing that we have never heard before, at least on the weather band. Are they up to something...?
Conspiracy...hmmm...
What a day!!
We were rolling early since Marilyn had to drop Al off at Harrold to dump the grain truck. Back at the field, Marilyn serviced the combine, discovering at one point that the auto shut-off nozzle on the fuel pump doesn't work anymore...that is, it doesn't "shut off". The first "Valdez" of the season. Now, either the fuel isn't that great or the 45 mph winds did a better job of cleaning off the two gallon spill that had splashed all over the back and sides of the combine...into the wind, no less.
A 9:30am start to the combining day...Al was already on his second load of the day, but it wouldn't last. The lineups got longer and longer as other crews discovered Harrold was the only place with room. They had put some grain in flat storage in Frederick and the end wall buckled...no pics...yet. It is pretty frustrating to have such a great crop and no where to put it...which means not getting it off the field. Combines sit loaded everywhere waiting for trucks to return. Al talked to one truck driver who said he got in line at Frederick yesterday at 1pm and weighed off at 7pm!
Marilyn finished the 100 acres that were left on the big field and moved over to the other field to open it up. After driving until the combine was full, it was exercise time...a walk back to the other field to get the grain cart...don't laugh now...it was uphill and against the wind although only about a block to the gate. The Freight was parked about three blocks into the field(best description of distance for the 'city folk' that check in here), the cart two blocks and the pickup and shop, one block. Al wanted to make sure the Freight was close to the gate so it wouldn't get stuck if it should rain, so that was the first thing that got moved. After moving the tractor up to the pickup, Marilyn hooked up the shop trailer and planned on moving it to the gate as well, but once at the gate decided-what the hell, and moved it over to the field that the combine was in and then walked back for the last time. Finally it was time to move the tractor and cart over to the other field so she could get back to combining.
For the past two days there have been forecasts of nasty weather for today, but they all claimed it was going to be to the west of us, moving north. While Al waited at the elevator, Marilyn continued combining, watching as the occasional puff of happy little clouds started to form a larger and larger gang with every round of the field. Still not too concerned, but with a watchful eye to the west...she thinks it's west, Texas fields are a bit on tilt...she watched as the wind blew harder, lifting the dirt off the plowed fields almost to the clouds. It still didn't seem to be getting closer, but because this field was in a bit of a hole, there was no weather band signal to find out exactly what was going on...phone signal was in the crapper, too. And the radio...
We like to listen to the local stations to find out what is happening on the weather front. Kansas is amazing for shutting all programming down and going live, even to the extent of storm chasing. This area is a whole 'nother country, as they like to say...we can't even get a local news report in the morning, never mind some weather.
Well, as usual, the forecasters were wrong and the storm started getting uncomfortably close, so Marilyn decided to bail...and no, she did
not follow the rule of "not leaving the field till the water is running off the header"...it wasn't even raining at that point. After dumping the combine and tarping the cart...no easy task in that gale force wind. She had a quick chat with the farmer and headed for Harrold to pick up Al. He was the next one in line when they shut the elevator down...what luck. We got around four miles from the elevator when the rain and wind hit hard, and we drove through it all the way back to Davidson, about 15 miles.When we got back to town it was black..no power for us, so this is getting done on laptop battery power. No phone either...dial up would look pretty good about now. It could be worse, our farmer at the next stop called Al to let him know there had been some nasty weather go through taking out barns, big trees, and power poles were snapped...they might be looking at days before they get it back. It's interesting to note that the weather forecasts kept talking about "power fluctuations"...kind of a bizarre thing that we have never heard before, at least on the weather band. Are they up to something...?
Conspiracy...hmmm...
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