Laura: A Season to Remember
If I had ruby red slippers, I would have just clicked them and returned to Kansas in the blink of an eye. But since my pair of lace up workbooks and Birkenstock sandals seemed to have lacked any magic from OZ, I had to make the long drive home from Montana the regular way, which provided plenty of time to reflect.
It is insane to think how quickly this summer has gone and may have been the fastest of my life. Despite nearly a week of rain delays earlier this month, we are efficiently nearing the end of the summer run. Before we know it, we’ll be deep into corn harvest! Western Kansas has received a much needed summer of rain After years of drought, so we’re looking forward to that positive change!
It’s always hard to drive away. There’s something about the end of the summer run that’s almost haunting. There’s so much life lived out here each summer and unless you’ve experienced it, its hard to explain what growth and new perspective can transpire in a person.
Harvest is a journey where one can almost escape what most would call the “real world.” Here, time revolves around only a few things which includes the sunrise, sunset, grain moisture and the elevator hours. We live and die by the weather and endless hours in semi isolation gives a person a lot of time to ponder what’s really important in life. Sometimes I think the modern world has shifted our priorities by distractions of trivial urgencies, but that’s a post for another day.
When I reflect on these season, three things stand out: challenges, pleasant surprises and positive team work. What a combination!
The season started out with a bit of shock when we lost Texas due to drought related issue. We have lost fields or even individual jobs due to weather, but never an entire state. The old adage, “there’s a first time for everything” comes to mind, and we hope this character building moment isn’t repeated anytime soon.
Once we passed that bump in the harvest trail we were met with many unexpected, but pleasant yield surprises. Many places up the road were plagued by drought too, but timely rains changed what could have been additional disasters into success stories. We only wish the markets helped our farmers capitalize on these victories. We pray things turn around soon.
Finally, our team has shown a great deal of character as they navigated challenges in and out of the field. Positive attitudes go a long way in making a team with very diverse personalities and backgrounds a memorable one, for the right reasons. Their dedication to the job and our customers is commendable and I hope they look back on their travels with fondness too.
Although our time blogging about our summers adventures has come to a close, we invite you to join us at High Plains Harvesting and Under The Flyover Sky, on our social media channels, for more harvesting and rural goodness. We thank the sponsors who have made this program possible and the readers for following along all these years. This isn’t possible without you, and what a privilege it has been to share our journeys with you.
May you a safe and happy fall. God bless.
