It's "Bin" Real!

The wheat is in the bin (except for random stragglers along the ditches like in the photo above). And while it wasn't the bin buster that it looked to be in the early spring, we do feel blessed that Wheat Harvest 2012 was better at the County Line than it was for others - even some of our neighbors.

It just goes to show what a difference a timely rain makes. We got 1.80" of rain here at our house April 30 as the wheat heads were filling. Farmers just six miles away got only 0.20" that same night. The spotty rains made for a big difference in yields a month later, cutting some yields in half. 

We made history this year. It was our earliest start for wheat harvest ever. We began on May 26 and finished June 9. (We wouldn't have been done that soon without the help of custom cutters - Crockett Farms - and a neighbor and his hired men - Keith, Johann and Henry. Thanks to all of them!) Last year, we started harvest on June 10. In 2010, we began on June 18. (That's one positive thing about blogging: I actually have those dates in black and white!)

Our average yield this year was 45.5 bushels per acre. The high was 63 bushels per acre on one field and the low was 22 bushels an acre on lower-quality ground the owner uses primarily for hunting. Test weights were all between 60 and 64 pounds per bushel, with most above 62. The benchmark for No. 1-graded wheat is 60 pounds per bushel.

I successfully completed another season of Meals on Wheels - Country Version.

There was only one breakdown on the combine and a couple of flat tires and a belt problem on a truck. All in all, we have plenty to be thankful for. And we are!

The end ... well, the end to Wheat Harvest 2012 anyway.

Oh Baby!

Just like a human mama's role evolves as her baby grows, so does the life and times of a Mama Cat.

Only one of a litter of three kittens born on the County Line in April survived. But the little gray kitty is now venturing out from the hidden recesses of the old backyard fireplace and exploring the world with its Mama.

The two are hanging out in the backyard with the other farmyard cats these days. Randy is diligently working on taming the baby. He is the Pied Piper of cats. The little kitty comes running when he steps outside.

The baby is exploring new food options. 

This last weekend, Jill sent us a photo of Kinley exploring her world in a new way, too. She was a big girl and sat up during a shopping trip with her Mom. (Actually, they were exploring new food options, too. They bought some sippy cups and some bowls and spoons for Kinley's new adventure - rice cereal and water when she turns 6 months at the end of June.)

Isn't it amazing how many changes happen in such a short time? Whether it's a baby kitten or a human baby, life changes in the blink of an eye.

Babies grow.

And mamas are there to stand by and help us learn and laugh through it all.

Well, I'm not so sure about the laughing part when it comes to cats. I think they work on their looks of disdain.

Harvest Moon

Shine on, shine on harvest moon

Up in the sky ...

OK. If you want to get technical about it, our June 4th moon wasn't a harvest moon - at least if you take Wikipedia's word for it. A harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.

But, since our June moon happened during Wheat Harvest 2012, it was a Harvest Moon in my book. You can't complain about a workday that goes into night when the sky has such beautiful adornments.

While it didn't happen in October, it did fit the definition in other ways. According to Wikipedia, "the Harvest Moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other full moons. The warm color of the Moon shortly after it rises is caused by light from the Moon passing through a greater amount of atmospheric particles than when the moon is overhead."

Wheat harvest causes plenty of extra "atmospheric particles" in the form of wheat chaff and dust. And that night, our neighbors had two combines and a grain cart in the field south of us along with our own combine and trucks, so we were stirring up a good amount of "atmospheric particles."

The atmosphere scatters the bluish component of moonlight which is really reflected white light from the sun, but allows the reddish component of the light to travel a straighter path to one's eyes.

It appears larger in size because the brain perceives a low-hanging moon to be larger than one that's high in the sky. This is known as a moon illusion, which is probably why my magic-loving husband called me out to take a look. He does love illusions.

The moon looked like an extra running light for the combine as the machine worked its way to the east. Pretty as a picture, don't you think?

Moonrise over harvest field, June 4, 2012

Check out another version (better than mine) that our neighbor Julie McNickle took.

And the harvest continues. Our neighbor's combine arrived like the cavalry last night, right after supper. They are done with their harvest and came to help us finish. Today, I'll set two more places at the dinner table for an extra combine driver and truck driver.

Sunset, June 7, 2012

So the sun will set on Harvest 2012 sooner than expected - maybe even later today!

Photo Finish

When I got married back in 1981, there wasn't much "outside-of-the-box" thinking when it came to the wedding photos. I had a wonderful photographer who was among the most innovative of the time. But, for the most part, they were the traditional photos of the day - the family and the bridal party in the confines of the church.

Photos by Stan Reimer.  As I look at my family's photo, I am most struck by the fact that Abby's & Derek's version includes 15.5 more people. We are a little more crowded at the altar rail these days!

Digital photography has certainly changed the face of wedding photography. Now brides and grooms traipse from hither to yon and back again.  They have hundreds of images (maybe even a thousand) to choose from. Sure, they have the traditional family and bridal party shots in the church sanctuary. But they also have more creative venues to capture their personalities.

On Saturday, after their traditional church photos, Abby and Derek went to Clay Center's Courthouse Square. I didn't follow (even though I really wanted to). But I couldn't resist a few as the wedding party walked away from me and back again.

Yes, Derek's eyes are shut. If I were a real photographer, I could correct that. Alas, I am only an amateur with no Photoshop.

It's not everyday that shoppers loading their groceries in the car at Kiers Thriftway are treated to guys in tuxes and women in strapless black gowns.

Even a candlelighter with a bum knee didn't miss out on the fun with a little help from her fellow acolyte.

Some of my favorite shots from Jill's and Eric's wedding were the less traditional ones, though I certainly wanted the family photos at the altar rail, too.

Photos by Gina Dreher, Gingerroot Studios, Wichita

Formal or informal ... candid or posed: I love how photos transport us to a different time or place and surround us with memories. I can't wait to see Abby's and Derek's 2012 digital album!

Me and My Shadow

As the combine makes another swath through the field, I watch the wheat feed into the header in front of me. 'Round and around my farmer takes me, the combine eating up the bowed golden heads, removing the kernels and spitting out the straw and chaff in a cloud of dust.

It's the same, over and over and over again. And you hope for the sameness. If the combine keeps on its hungry path, it means that gears and levers are moving along as designed. It means that you're not waiting for trucks to arrive back at the field after flat tires or thrown belts. (Yes, there have been two flat tires and a belt incident so far this harvest.)

But then I notice the shadows.

There we are, reflected in the combine window in front of us - me taking yet another photo and Randy with hands on the wheel. It's not a mirror image, but just a different way of looking at ourselves.

I turn and look at the grain tumbling from the auger into the combine's bin. And, as it spills, I see Randy's shadow from another perspective and also see the grain truck reflected in the glass as it sits across the field.

Sometimes, in the sameness of our lives, it's good to see things from a new angle. We go 'round and 'round, not pausing to notice the people and the places right in front of us. It sometimes takes looking at the same thing in a new way.

We shouldn't spend life looking through a rearview mirror, but sometimes it helps us figure out where to go in the future, doesn't it?

Wedding Weekend

Miss Kinley has discovered her tongue.

I apologize to Kinley's day care providers this week: We just might have spoiled her a little bit this weekend.

But just look at that face! Wouldn't you want to spoil her, too?

It was Abby's and Derek's wedding weekend, but it was special for the rest of us, too, since the whole family was together.

She and Grandpa watched as the bride and groom took pre-wedding photos. Kinley's Daddy stayed with her in the church nursery during the actual ceremony. But after I got done cutting the cake at the reception, I held her while she slept amidst the loud music and revelry.

Photo by my sister, Darci

In this case, the phrase, "Slept like a baby" held true. Just don't ask her mother whether it's accurate at 3 o'clock in the morning.

We weren't the only culprits when it came to holding a napping baby. Playing with Great-Grandma Moore can tire a girl out. Grasping is such intense work. You might just fall asleep in the middle of it.

Kinley also spent some time bonding with the youngsters in the family. One greeted her with kisses.

Braden, Kinley's second cousin

Another was a little more tentative about the interloper at Ma's house.

Neelly, Kinley's second cousin

The bride and the groom didn't have all the fun last weekend.

But, like I said, there should probably be combat pay for day care workers following a fun-filled family weekend.

A Lasting Legacy

I tried to keep my camera in the bag. I really did.

My sister, Lisa, and her husband, Kyle, were paying a pro to document this momentous occasion as my niece, Abby, traded her five-letter last name - Bauer - for her new 11-letter moniker - Stockebrand.

But I couldn't resist just a few. And when I looked at the photos this morning, I was struck by something. Framing the scene as Abby and Derek took their vows in the Clay Center United Methodist Church were my parents' shoulders - my mom's in pink and my dad's in gray.

My parents took their vows in the Byers United Methodist Church nearly 59 years ago.

Janis & Bob Moore - August 1953 - Byers UMC

During Abby & Derek's reception, the DJ had all the married couples come to the dance floor. As the music played, he would announce: "All the married couples married less than one day, please leave the dance floor."

This young couple just happened to be the first ones to leave.

"Everyone who has been married less than 1 year, please sit down," he announced.

Then 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 ...

And my parents were still dancing.

My family provided the first couple to leave the floor. And the last.

I didn't get a photo of my parents because I was holding my sleeping granddaughter as my daughter and son-in-law danced. I hope the professional photographer did. But, if not, I'll still remember it. And I hope it made an impression on all the grandchildren - not just the newlyweds who opened the doors of a church on Saturday as single people and left as a married couple - but on all of them.

It's a legacy to aspire to long after the cake is cut and the twinkling lights have been packed away.

And I loved another tradition during the reception. Abby was serenaded by the FarmHouse fraternity men, who sang, "A FarmHouse Girl."

As my sister said, the first FarmHouse guy in our family, our Grandpa Shelby Neelly, would have been pleased as current FH men and generations of guys from both Abby's and Derek's family serenaded the new bride.

Even trading simple five-letter last names to 11-letter ones is not without precedence in our family. I did it 31 years ago. So, Abby, welcome to life with a complicated last name, complete with an "E" in the middle - just like mine.

It's totally worth it.

***

An update: My sister, Darci, got a photo during the married couples' dance. So, here are my Mom and Dad on the dance floor.