Harvesting the Sky

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie –
True Poems flee –
~Emily Dickinson, c.1879

 

"A harvest sky yields bounty to the eyes and weary soul."

Kim Fritzemeier, Kansas farm wife

That wasn't on the Quote Garden list of "sky" quotes. Maybe Kim Fritzemeier, farm wife, could be added to the likes of Emily Dickson and Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

OK ... maybe not. But some days, the harvest sky has made the seemingly endless trips to and from the field and the emergency parts runs a little more palatable.

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
Good old Ralph probably didn't know much about wheat harvest, but as we do our part to bring that "daily bread" into reality, I thought his quote was appropos. Sunsets are much more interesting with clouds. There's a lesson there somewhere, I'm sure.

Last Friday, I'd made two trips to Hutchinson to pick up parts at Case. That brought my 24-hour total to three trips.

That evening, instead of riding with Randy in the combine as is my usual modus operandi, I opted to stay behind to take photos of the shifting skies as day turned into evening.

It was a glorious show.

And, unlike the parts runs, it was totally free of charge.

It was almost as if Randy were harvesting the sun itself as the sun dipped toward the horizon ...

... and he emptied the combine after yet another trip down the field.

Wheat dust always makes me a little itchy. But I'd have to say it was worth a little discomfort to witness a particularly beautiful sunset.

I've had a few other favorite sky shots from this harvest. One dramatic sky heralded the arrival of Jill and the girls on the evening of June 15.

They arrived about the same time as the storm did.

Dark clouds become heaven's flowers when kissed by light.

 ~Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

We got a rain shower during the night, but I hope it wasn't enough to prevent one more day of harvest. If we're able to cut, we should get done today. Here's hoping!