Overdue Update

 Time Flies.

We spent a day in Burlington for our annual picnic and birthday party for a granddaughter.  This year we were at both Dankwardt and Crapo parks.  The kids really enjoyed the big playground at Dankwardt and the hike to the cave and waterfall in Crapo. And as usual, they ended up getting wet and dirty.  We drove out in the morning and came back home in the evening this time.  We enjoyed our time together and the parks, food, party, and fellowship. 

A week later, we travelled with Paul and Jean to Lester for the Metzger cousins reunion.  It was planned by the central Illinois and Bloomfield cousins, but held in Lester.  There were 88 grandchildren born to Fred and Carrie's 14 children, but only 84 lived to adulthood.  Ten have passed away and some couldn't make it, so we ended up with 52 first cousins in attendance plus spouses. We cousins had lunch together, followed by a program. In the evening we invited the next generation to join us, which a good number did.  We realized how we are really all aging!  The oldest cousin is 91, and the youngest is 50.  We also had a silent auction of cousin Charlie's Jersey cow and Metzger items collection. We came home with some items we probably don't need!  We enjoyed our weekend and wished we could have spent a little more time out there.  

After a very wet July, we had a very dry August and September.  I think I received a total of one inch of rain for both months.  Harvest started mid September, and soybeans especially matured faster than normal.  I think it was the first time in my farming career that we harvested group 3.4 and 3.5 soybeans in September.  I sowed my wheat on the first day of October into dry dirt, but we have had a couple rains since and it is up and growing.  With no rain delays, we made very good harvest progress.  Because of the extremely dry conditions, fire was a constant worry.  One evening while we were shutting down, nephew Tate ( Fire and Rescue Squad) was called to a field fire west of the Goodfield Grade School.  We have a farm there!  We headed over, and realized it was my cousin Dale's field next to ours.  His combine had a smoldering fire and some burning chaff had some field spots burning.  They had the fire under control when we arrived, but there were still smoldering bunches of chaff in various spots in the machine.  Lots of water was applied and finally no smoke detected.  He had a mechanic check it out the next day, and fortunately nothing was damaged.  They had stopped as soon as they smelled smoke and quick action saved it.  Our dealership told us they lost five customer combines to fire this fall.

The third weekend of October was niece Kacie's wedding in Indiana. We had to take a Saturday off of harvesting to make the trip to Leo.  We checked into our hotel in Fort Wayne, and a group of us were going to walk to Culver's (across the parking lot) for supper.  It was threatening rain, so I drove our over in case we needed it to get back.  On the one block drive back to the hotel, I started hearing a groaning noise and smelling oil, then lost power steering.  Saturday night at a hotel in Indiana and our vehicle is out of condition!  I called three 24 hour mobile mechanics, but none answered the phone or returned messages.  We made arrangements to get to the church and wedding with other family.  First thing Sunday morning, I called a repair shop that was open on Sunday and was told they couldn't fit me in.  So that meant staying an extra night and hoping to find someone to work on it Monday morning.  We had planned to head back after the reception, but now we couldn't.  So we stayed to the end of the reception and bummed a ride back to the hotel.  At 7:30 Monday morning I called a recommended shop just 4 blocks from our hotel.  They said yes they would look at it right away and yes, I should be able to drive it that far without further damage.  It's not easy driving these modern cars without power steering, but I got it there.  They diagnosed the problem and told me we needed a whole new rack and pinion kit.  They said it would take at least five hours to get the parts and do the repairs.  Their driver brought me back to the hotel, and family that was just getting ready to head for home gave us a ride to the Klop house.  We were able to spend time with Loren and Rita and hang out with some family.  At three in the afternoon the shop called that the van was ready to go.  Rita gave us a ride back into town, and we were on the road for home by four o'clock.  So, obviously, I missed another day of harvest.

Anyway, the weekend was nice and we enjoyed watching Kacie get married!  She has a lot friends from her many jobs, travels, and exploits over the years, so the wedding was huge.  I kinda played the introvert and kept to the edges or helped with grandkids.  The reception was in an old GE factory that was recently converted to an entertainment and venue center in old downtown Ft. Wayne.  It was an interesting building that they are making great use of.  Congratulations John and Kacie!

When we got home, it was discovered that my brother and nephew's organic corn had blown down over the weekend while we were gone.  And, I had to call for my first service call of the season for the combine.  It turned out to be a half day delay.  We put the downed corn reel on the combine, and another neighbor brought a combine.  The two of us harvested what we could, but we just couldn't make it through much of the corn.  Calls were made to other farmers who had special heads for flat corn. Two more machines came to take our place.  One of the machines in particular was able to pick up most of the corn and get it into the machine, but only working from about noon until just before dark.  So it took using four combines over four days to get one field harvested!

I had saved my last 30 acres of corn to finish filling my bins.  My grain dryer broke down the day after we got back from the wedding, and it took until Saturday to get it up and running.  I still had wet corn waiting to dry, so we decided to pick what was left and take it to the elevator instead of waiting for the dryer to catch up.  So we finished harvest Saturday afternoon.  But, we discovered some broken wheel studs on the combine, so there is more work and expense to come.  

 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.                                                   Exodus 22:6