Ready or Not

May 30, 2011

Ready or not, here it comes.

The hot, dry days of the past week have turned that sea of amber waves much more gold than green this past week.

June 5, 2011

Do you remember playing hide and seek as a kid? The person whose turn it was to be "It" would cover their eyes and count to the agreed-upon number. Some "Its" counted faster than others. If they were taking their turn, you'd better already have a place in mind to hide because they were going to be seeking before you had nestled into your hiding place.

That's kind of the way I feel about harvest this year. The countdown is on.

But there's no hiding. Hot, windy days have translated into a furious race toward the start of harvest. Those hot, 100-degree days have changed the field's palettes from green undertones to gold in a week.

My checklist for Harvest

• Lots of canned pop (check)
  
• Extra sandwich buns in the freezer (check)
• A few extra meals in the freezer (check)
• My big toe healed and ready for action ... uh, not a check. I'm in my fashionable, hard-soled boot for one more week. If only it would have healed as quickly as the wheat has turned, I'd be in good shape.
• My to-do list cleared so I'm ready for harvest action ... again, not so much.
  

But just like that childhood game of Hide and Seek, "It" is out there, seeking for me whether I'm ready or not. And it looks like it just might find me later this week. Somehow I don't think shouting "Olly Olly Oxen Free" is going to work in this case.