17 Jun Laura: Cabin fever

Northern Texas: Rain, unusually cool temperatures, overcast skies and puffy clouds have continued their unwelcome stay down south. Very little cutting is happening from custom harvesters and farmers alike. Normally, when I’m running up and down the highways, I see machines rolling, dust clouds rising on the horizon and grain trucks humming down the road. However, all is quiet. You would not even know its harvest time if not for passing the ripe wheat fields and seeing them for yourself. At church Sunday people spoke to us about concerns of wheat sprouting in the head if it continues much longer like this. There’s also the unspoken knowledge that the wheat continues to ripen up the trail. We are all trying to maintain positive attitudes but it is starting to be quite disheartening. The forecast becomes more favorable this week so I pray we can put in some huge days.

One of the ways we’re staying sane, in between daily responsibilities, is leaving the “cabin,” also know as the camper house. We’ve been swimming, visited the local farmer’s market and strawberry patch, hunted fossils and visited a petting zoo, to name a few. The best part is that we haven’t had to do all of the activities alone. Over time, a network has been formed through being on the trail, US Custom Harvesters, Inc. and HarvestHer. The road can get lonely at times when away from friends and family at home, so it’s great that we sometimes can surround ourselves with friends on the trail. Some of the families we see once a year at stops or events and others we run into multiple times on our march north.

Speaking of other harvesters, this is the perfect time to introduce my plan for posts this year. In addition to offering some updates from our family’s business, High Plains Harvesting, I’m going to add posts about other harvesters I’ve encountered throughout the year. There are so many stories that need to be shared. Operations in this business are so diverse and no two are exactly alike. I just know you’ll enjoy learning about these crews.

From tuning up combines to tuning up bikes. There’s no shortage of “equipment” to work on around here.

At least Sunday night’s rain was good for something … entertaining the mini-harvesters.

Hunting for ripe berries.

We couldn’t wait to dig into those strawberries!

Picked up a few things at the farmer’s market.

Check out some of the cool animals the little harvesters got to hold. We had great time meeting up with some other crews.

The moms got to be in this shot. (Courtesy photo.)

Even the fellas have gotten out. They headed to town, in two full truckloads, to watch a rodeo.

Laura Haffner can be reached at laura@allaboardharvest.com.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by Case IH, Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc., BASF, Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children, Gleaner, ITC, Westbred, Huskie, Western Equipment, US Custom Harvesters, and High Plains Journal.