Corn Harvest from the Jump Seat

 

Randy feels good about our decision to retire from active farming in August 2022. But there are times when he misses it, and he gets a little "itchy" - and that itch doesn't have a thing to do with the ever-present harvest dust. Harvest was always Randy's favorite time of the year. Well ... Until he had a breakdown. Or the combine got stuck. Or the employee didn't show up.

So maybe experiencing harvest in the combine's "buddy seat" is OK after all. Let's hope the combine operator was just as happy to have a rider as Randy always was when a kid, grandkid or curious guest showed up. 

 

He was able to ride for a little while as a custom harvester was cutting one of our corn fields. (The ride and the photos were taken September 27.)

 

Our corn averaged 80 bushels per acre. Todd and Tye Miller, who farm our ground, had some fields that had higher yields at other locations. However, Randy says it was a nice surprise after the field blew so badly after planting this spring because of drought and strong windstorms. 

 

The custom harvester - Frederick Harvesting out of Alden - was trying out an experimental combine, so Randy enjoyed looking at all the bells, whistles and cameras in the combine cab during his excursion. 

Tye and Todd still have some our milo to harvest this fall. We'll see if more combine rides are in Randy's future. 

A Golden Anniversary: Class of 1974

What happened in 1974?

And Randy and his classmates graduated from Stafford High School. Their celebration began last Friday night with a soup supper at the Stafford Senior Center. (How appropriate, right? There might have been a joke or two made about the location.)

 

 Friday night soup supper crowd

Back row: Jim Carter, Rex Hildebrand, Randy Fritzemeier, Tom Tuckwood, Dale Hearn, Gregg Blew, Terry McCune, Richard Brensing, Rex Hoskinson, Bob Howell

Front row: Gemma Austin, Nancy Hildebrand, Connie Harmon, Renee Salem, Marcia Bauerle, Jim Powell

Last weekend during Stafford's Oktoberfest, they celebrated their 50th class reunion. When you're 17 or 18 and walking across the stage to receive your diploma, you don't realize how quickly those 50 years will fly by.

Different people came to different parts of the reunion. This was Saturday night following the all-school alumni banquet. (The only one not identified before is Peggy Miller, second from the right in the front row.)

Randy's class has done a great job getting together every five years since graduation for reunions. I've been to all but the first one, so it kind of feels like I'm part of them, too. 

They've lost 12 of their 46 classmates, which I thought seemed like quite a few. Some have been able to be at all the reunions and others live much further away and were just able to get back for a few milestone gatherings like the 50th.

Photo by Julie McNickle

 

 They were also part of the annual Oktoberfest parade.

Photo by Dale Hearn - Getting ready for the parade

Some of the spouses got into the photo at the Nora Larabee Memorial Library Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to Julie McNickle for the photo from Saturday night's alumni banquet (below). She does a great job in documenting events through her photography.

Hopefully, my Skyline High School Class of 1975 get-together for our 50th next year will be just as successful.

Them Thar Hills

 

"There's gold in them thar hills."

According to folklore, in 1849, from the steps of the Lumpkin County Courthouse, a Dahlonega, Georgia mint assayer, Dr. M.F. Stephenson, yelled to the townspeople, "There's gold in them thar hills." He wanted to keep people looking for gold in Georgia, rather than leaving for California.

We found some "gold" in the Flint Hills of Kansas during a recent golfing excursion. But the gold was in the form of wildflowers - not minerals. 

At a senior golf tournament Randy played in this summer, some of his golfing companions talked about playing the Wabaunsee Pines Golf Course. We had a day between tennis and volleyball matches while in Topeka, so we - like the gold prospectors - went west.

Of course, we weren't going as far west as California, but just to Wabaunsee County. 

 

Wabaunsee Pines is a nine-hole public golf course featuring limestone berms and native grasses of the Flint Hills. It's been called “The Gem of the Flint Hills” and we now know why.

The course was constructed and maintained with volunteer labor and has irrigated greens, tees, and fairways.Wabaunsee Pines Golf Association, Inc. was incorporated in 1993. In 2014, a group of patrons joined together and created the “Double Eagle Club” which funds the course's only employee. Before that time, it was maintained by all volunteer labor.

The beauty of the Kansas Flint Hills is just natural - no grooming required. 

 This time of year, the fall wildflowers provided a beautiful backdrop to a nice course.

 

The course is adjacent to Lake Wabaunsee.

Kansas may have a reputation for being flat. But the Flint Hills are just one exception to that rule.

My golfer would recommend it. 

On the way back to Topeka, we had lunch at the Sommerset Cafe in the tiny town of Dover. 

Photo by Taylor Hunt from Facebook photos

 I didn't take any photos (believe it or not.) But we would recommend it, too. The cafe is housed in a 19th-century clapboard building and serves homestyle cafe fare and classic pies. Yes, we had the pie. Randy had banana creme and I had Dutch apple. Yum! We would definitely make a return visit, if the opportunity arises.

 

 

Life Lately

 

I guess I've been too busy living to do much writing lately. It's ironic, I suppose. Theoretically, retirement implies that I'd have more time. But farming kept us closer to home. If I was at the house waiting for my next "go-fer" duties, I took the time to write. (I am still doing my Central Kansas reporter gig for KFRM 550 AM farm radio, Monday through Friday.)

But now, we are keeping the road hot to Topeka or Manhattan or to where ever our heart desires. 

I just commented to Randy last week that our frequent excursions to Topeka to watch tennis and volleyball wouldn't be possible if we were still actively farming. There would be corn to cut and wheat to plant and milo soon ready to harvest. 

Harley Day at K-State Football game - September 13, 2024

Even though we have been season ticket holders to K-State football games for years, we often missed at least one game each fall to stay home and plant wheat. 

August 31, 2024 game - Touchdown!

September 28 game - K-State vs. Oklahoma State

Some of our favorite trips lately have been to cheer on our granddaughters.

This is Kinley's first year in junior high tennis. As a 7th grader, she earned a spot on the A team squad for Washburn-Rural Junior High.  (As I told Jill and Eric, all those lessons at Genesis are now paying off!)

It's been so much fun to see her success. It's also been fun to join the other grandparents (and our friends) - Alan and Christy - as No. 1 fans.

She's gotten to play singles ...

and doubles with fellow 7th grader (and Genesis afficiando) Karmyn. She's had success with both.

We're looking forward to more matches this week. It's a short season, and I hate that it's almost over already.

 

We don't need any distractions during tennis tournaments. However, sometimes little sisters prefer to find something to do between matches. Brooke could have started a little bracelet business during a Saturday tournament.

Thankfully, the schedule has also matched up with with Brooke's first session of volleyball this fall.

We're rather fond of the coach, too. Jill has taken on that duty for the Attack Pack.

It's amazing how much all the girls have improved since they began last year. Several of them are serving overhand - though they all will get more consistent with time. And there are actual volleys happening these days. Once in awhile, they even set each other up.

KANSAS STATE FAIR

We missed the Kansas Master Farmers Day at the Kansas State Fair this year. For years, we were rotating through the offices or had some other committee assignment that required our presence. And while we love reconnecting with our farming friends from across the state, this year, tennis and volleyball with the granddaughters prevailed.

We did stop at the Kansas State Fair on our way home from Topeka. Randy had his Pronto Pup (with Dorothy and the Tin Man and gang looking on.) OK, maybe he had more than one corn dog.

He rode on the State Fair railroad.

And we saw all the attractions - including the giant pumpkin in the Pride of Kansas building. We also got my favorite fair food - an apple dumpling from Wheatland Cafe. I didn't take a photo before digging in.

We'd thought about staying for the evening concert, Casting Crowns, which is one of my favorite contemporary Christian recording groups. However, it was hot, and we were tired. All this running around is exhausting - ha!

NEW INTERNET

We live in Never Never Land for cell phone service and fiber optics internet. I wasn't looking to replace my internet provider. But, when I had a few problems and a technician told me that they were going to phase out the equipment I was using, it was time to look for something else. (I loved my previous company, but there were no options to upgrade for me, since I lived on the very perimeter of their coverage area.)

Anyway, I had new internet installed last week.

When I initially called, the sales representative said, "Wow! You have a lot of trees. I don't know. ..." However, she promised a site visit to see.

Thankfully, the installer could get above the trees by attaching it to the old windmill. Whew! And, so far, so good.

COMMUNITY CONCERT

We had the first Hutchinson Community Concert of the season. It was Legendary Ladies of Country with Lisa Brokop, who sang the songs and told the stories of female country music pioneers like Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Anne Murray, and others. 

Community Concerts are a great value. It's only $50 a ticket for quality entertainment. While they aren't headliner stars, they are talented performers. Lisa Brokop was excellent, and we weren't the only ones to think so. Next month, she's getting inducted into the British Columbia Country Music Hall of Fame. The pianist, bass and fiddle players were talented, too. 

 Next time: Trying out a new golf course - and some beautiful scenery.

The Travelogue Ends Today

 

Our trip to and from the national parks was mainly filled with driving - two days each way. We did listen to audio books, and I took several photos from the passenger seat, zipping along at 80 MPH as the flatlands of our part of Kansas transitioned to hills and then mountains.

At the beginning, I admit I was getting kind of "itchy" about my lack of quality photos. 

But then I saw a road sign, saying that the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument was coming up. It didn't take a lot of convincing for Randy to stop to stretch our legs and to take a break from the car. It is out in the middle of nowhere - which is no surprise. The town of Hardin, Montana, is 15 miles north. The nearest bigger cities are Billings, Montana, 65 miles northwest, and Sheridan, Wyoming, 70 miles south.

Like Arlington National Cemetery, the Custer National Cemetery.provides a final resting place for many generations of those who faithfully served in the U.S. armed forces.

Here, Americans of many races and beliefs rest side by side. 

There are graves of known and unknown veterans, women and children from isolated frontier posts, Indians, scouts and Medal of Honor recipients. Veterans of 20th century wars rest there, too.

The War Department established the cemetery in 1879, three years after the Battle of Little Bighorn. Remains from 25 cemeteries were transferred here when frontier forts closed at the end of the Indian Wars. 

The fallen from many famous battles now rest here, including Fetterman, Wagon Box, Hayfield, Big Hole and Bear Paw.

Until reaching capacity in 1978, the cemetery accepted burial reservations for veterans and their spouses. They include veterans from the Indian Wars, Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, Korean War and Vietnam War. 

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought along the ridges, steep bluffs, and ravines of the Little Bighorn River, in south-central Montana on June 25-26, 1876. The combatants were warriors of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, battling men of the 7^th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry, along with their Crow and Arikara scouts. The Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to symbolize the clash of two vastly dissimilar cultures: the buffalo/horse culture of the northern plains tribes, and the highly industrial based culture of the United States. This battle was not an isolated confrontation, but part of a much larger strategic campaign designed to force the capitulation of the non-reservation Lakota and Cheyenne.

In 1868, after fierce fighting from 1865-1867 between U.S. Army personnel and Lakota and Cheyenne warriors, several Lakota leaders agreed to sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie. This treaty created a large reservation for the Lakota in the western half of present-day South Dakota; the Lakota's beloved Black Hills area. The United States wanted tribes to give up their nomadic life which brought them into conflict with other Indians, white settlers and railroads. Agreeing to the treaty meant accepting a more stationary life and relying on government-supplied subsidies.

However, Lakota leaders such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse rejected the reservation system. That led to the Battle of Little Big Horn, in which Lt. Col. George Custer and many of his troops perished. It was originally named Custer National Cemetery. But, after decades of advocacy on the part of indigenous groups, President George H.W. Bush changed the name to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in 1991 to recognize indigenous perspectives and those who fought at the site.

The Visitor's Center was closed for remodeling during our visit. But that was just as well. After wandering around for a little while, we got back on the road. 

NOTE: This was actually our first "tourist stop" on the trip. I didn't want to start my travelogue with this, but I did want to save the photos and have a blog post about our visit. So you get a little "fruit-basket-upset with this particular post.

For those who've read to THE END, thanks for sticking with me.