Wheat harvest can mean its own version of fireworks. It's a big production. It can be loud. It can be crazy. There can be explosions, though you hope they don't happen in the combine's drive shaft or with tire blowouts on the trucks. (Short tempers are their own form of explosions, I suppose, but they usually blow away relatively quickly, kind of like the smoke after the flash and boom.)
Wheat Harvest 2014 certainly hasn't been the typical harvest. At this point, we've been
out of the field more days than we've been in it. So, if the wheat and the fields dry out enough, we'll be cutting wheat on the 4th of July. We plan to start harvesting again early this afternoon "up north," on sandier ground.
We won't be relaxing next to a calm lake with sunlight dancing across its mirror-like surface.
Instead, we'll be running the combine through "waves" of golden grain ...
and dodging stagnant water in mud holes.
Instead of gathering at a picnic table or around a campfire, my 4th of July revelers will likely use the car truck for a dining surface.
We may see a few fireworks dot the night sky, off in the distance.
But it's more likely that the show in our western skies will be from the sun sinking toward the horizon.
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| The sunset reflected on the window of the combine cab. |
It will color the clouds with a palette of hues to rival any combination produced by fireworks manufacturers.
The combine will provide the light show instead of orbs of exploding color.
Our 4th of July celebration will likely consist of eating red- and blue-decorated sugar cookies, tucked into plastic bags and taken to munch on-the-go in the combine or the truck. That's what farmers do. They do the job when they can get it done. That's why
God Made a Farmer.
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| Photo from Wheat Harvest 2013, when the wheat was prettier! |
We've got our red combine, our blue sky and some white clouds, and we're ready to go. Now, if Mother Nature cooperates, we'll celebrate our independence from weather delays.
If you want to celebrate your patriotism with some all-American baking, you can try any of these tried and true recipes from Kim's County Line. They work equally well in the harvest field or at a more typical 4th of July celebration.
But it's more likely that the show in our western skies will be from the sun sinking toward the horizon.
All-American Brownies for a Crowd
Happy 4th of July, Kim. Hope you can make some good progress on wheat harvest.
ReplyDeleteJ started cutting hay yesterday and we will be working tomorrow too.
I think we are underway again. I haven't heard any distress calls, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. A neighbor is helping cut this afternoon because he doesn't have anything ready to go. I hope we'll make lots of progress. It means more meal deliveries tonight, but that's OK! I loved the photo of your hay on your blog today. Such a pretty scene! We have alfalfa that needs cut, too, but we'll probably wait until we get the wheat cut now. Happy 4th to you and J, too!
DeleteHappy 4th of July and fields of grain blowing in the wind sounds perfect to me. Good luck and keep safe. Now I would like to be sitting on that dock though:) B
ReplyDeleteBBQ ribs are already in the oven for lunch and baked beans in the slow cooker. Who says we can't have a 4th of July feast anyway. I'm thinking about what to take for supper, but that will depend upon whether I drive the truck this afternoon.
DeleteI took that lake photo last year on the 4th of July where my brother's family has a cabin. It does look peaceful, doesn't it? Happy 4th to you, too, B!