HARVEST -- AND OTHER CHANGES

We left the homestead last Saturday, August 16, when daily temperatures in town were peaking at 110+ (near 100 at Gilbert). How quickly that change from summer to fall can come! Thursday afternoon at the modular home, Mike said, “We should close the windows before it gets cold in here.” That statement was almost ironic in view of the fact that we had been judiciously closing windows when we got up to keep the heat out and opening them when we went to bed to let the cool in.

When we left last Saturday, harvest was not happening on Russell Ridge. Kyle, our young farmer, does most of the harvesting in our immediate area, and he had not yet arrived. We don’t need to worry about that, but still, we think about it, and when the rain hit on Tuesday and Wednesday, we wondered about harvest and the effect on the crops.

We were amazed when we arrived here at the homestead yesterday (Friday, August 22) to find that our crops as well as those on “June’s place” had been harvested in our absence as well as others. The farmers must have worked long hours when they saw the forecast. [The above photos were taken as the sun casts shadows across the fields pre- and post-harvest.]

This morning at 7:00 it’s 51 here at Gilbert. We expect a warm – not hot – weekend. The sun is still warm, but the air carries that hint of coolness that says, “Get the kids ready for school.” I no longer have to worry about school preparation, but this weekend will bring a visit with Hallie and Nick, and we expect Clinton and Elisha to come for dinner tomorrow night.

As I made the bed in Hallie’s room yesterday, I thought of the harvests of yore. I would wake up in that room to the sound of my dad pulling the squeaky little combine with his little caterpillar. It was a good sound. We hauled to Nezperce in the pickup. During our walk yesterday I took these photos of Kyle’s equipment.