helping with harvest

I’m a farm girl. There’s no season I enjoy more than combining. I think combining, or harvesting, gets to be its own sub-season within fall/autumn. In college, I convinced a friend to drive me an hour to my house so that I could ride in the tractor for a few hours, eat supper with my parents, and then drive back to college. (Looking back, I realize that this friend may have had a crush on me.)

Before we went back the Solomons in September 2012, my dad combined for a day so that the boys could ride with him in the combine. It was borderline too early in the year to combine, but he wanted the memories and the photos.

This year, the boys and I have been back to Iowa twice during harvesting. We plan to have Baby #3 in Iowa, so I’ve come back for a few OB appointments. We could make the round-trip from Illinois to Iowa and back in a day, but this is more fun. This time, John was able to come along with us. All last week there was much anticipation for more combining, particularly from the preschool age group. Most of their play involved “combining.” The debris in this picture on the dining room floor of our Illinois house is actually dried beans and corn.

the day before: “combining” the floor

 

On Wednesday, the boys watched my dad move some harvested beans from one place to another. It involved watching augers, a skid loader, and a tractor.

bean!

 

playing outside with Grandma

 

M playing in the skid loader bucket

 

D was so interested, he stopped asking questions for a minute.

 

the bean head on the combine turns like this…

On Thursday they got to ride in the combine and tractors while my dad, my brother, and John drove. They even got to watch a tractor try to pull a wagon from the mud! Then they got to watch two tractors try to pull, and then four people shovel, and then two tractors pull again… I was off the hook from shoveling and instead watched the kids root for the tractors and make train “chugga chugga puff puff” noises to help the tractors pull out the wagon.

Yesterday the crops were too wet to harvest. Thankfully, today it’s drier so they’re combining corn. That means I’m home by myself and have gotten computer work done without having anyone hop up on my lap and ask to click through pictures on picasa.

My awesome sister-in-law just called and said she’s bringing lunch for everyone out to the field.  Away I go!

 

-Lori