Fields and Funerals

I drove my parents to Chicago for a funeral Friday.  We got caught in some traffic in the city, but we made it to the church on time.  It was my oldest male first cousin's wife who passed away.  Boyd met Lois when he would spend weekends and summers at my parents house while he was attending college.  Big city funerals are not as simple as a small town funeral, with the traffic and all.  The burial was in Elgin, about a 45 minute drive away from the church.  There was no processional, everyone just drove on their own.  It made for a 325 mile, 10 1/2 hour day.  But it was good to be there, it was a blessed day, and it was good to see so many of my cousins.

When we stepped out of the car in the Chicago church parking lot, we got the news that Uncle Elmer (You Illinois folks got it made!) had passed away in Lester.  One of my favorite Uncle Elmer stories was on one of his rare visits to Illinois.  We were discussing farmland and he gave this reason for a recent purchase.  "An '80' came up for sale close to me, and I accidentally had $50,000 in the bank, so I bought it."  This was a few years back when land prices were much cheaper.  I never seem to have those kinds of accidents!  I probably won't make it to the funeral, but my prayers are with the family.

In August I attended three field days put on by Ag companies.  For the most part, the weather was very comfortable, and the food was good.  Then on the first day of September, we attended the Farm Progress Show in Decatur.  It was a very hot, humid day, but we managed to cover the entire show and brought home much farm swag to prove it.

Yesterday afternoon, we finally got the combine into the field to start harvest after fixing two unexpected hydraulic leaks.  The early corn is dry, so we hope to make good progress this coming week.  It took about a half an hour to get all the electronics set and the displays in sync.  Then on the first round I backed into the four-wheeler for the second time this year.  It keeps getting parked on the field edge in the corner where I turn around when doing the end rows and I don't see it in the mirrors.  It will survive.  On my second swath, the head found our Christmas tree.  I'm not sure how it got out into the field, but thankfully it didn't do any damage.  Picking the end rows by the garden the head found a steel post that marked the edge of the garden at one time.  Again, thankfully it didn't do any damage.  I hope things will go a little smoother from here on.

  And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
Genesis 23:13