26 Jul Laura: No stop to learning!

Southeast Colorado: Hi everyone. This harvest has perhaps moved into the position of “craziest one ever” due to weather. I’ve been a little bit of here, there and everywhere lately. That includes in a combine. As a result, I’ve gotten terribly behind so the next few posts will hopefully get you up to speed on some of the happenings of the team.

We headed out to southeast Colorado with the idea that I would probably be in a machine. However, the weather initially didn’t cooperate, so that gave us a few extra days of flexibility to play with our farm family’s children. Our kids have become buddies the last several years and it has been a joy to watch them all grow. Some highlights of their time together included the pool, zoo and for a history lesson, a visit to Amache, a Japanese relocation camp near Granada.

The kiddos standing next to the water tower at Amache. It was an eye opening experience.

On July 1, the kids were thrilled to able to share their act of love with the crew, in the form of homemade chicken noodle soup. Now normally, that would sound like a terrible meal for that time of year, but with slightly overcast skies and unseasonably cool temps, it worked. My mother-in-law used to have a noodle making business called “Donna’s Noodles.” For years I’ve been wanting to learn to make them. We finally made that happen while we were home, briefly. She taught us her recipe and how to use the noodle machine. It was such a special time of bonding.

So fortunate to spend time together and learn from the best.

Our hard work paid off. They were delicious.

Speaking of sweet bonding, my mom was also a huge help for the short time we were home. I had a ton of paperwork to catch up, as well as supervising some 4-H projects. My mom taught me to sew and she did the same for my kids while I worked with them on rocketry. I don’t know how I would have balanced all the responsibilities in such a short timeframe if it wasn’t for her help. I’m thankful for my village of family and friends who support us in this crazy harvest life.

What a great time of bonding and learning. Pinning, cutting, sewing, serging and ironing were learned.

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.