One combine, two happy kids...

...and a happy farmer

It's hard for farm boys to keep up with their farming after they start school. Dan was pretty bummed about missing out on chopping corn silage and earlage this year, since all the chopping was finished before he got home from school. So, when it was clear that we'd still be combining corn into the early evening, Glen asked Erv if there would be room in the combine for a little boy. Erv said there would be room.

Right after we finished our after-school snack, Erv pulled into the yard with the combine. I asked Dan if wanted to go ride in the combine. No, he said, he wanted to play. I told him this was the last harvest work of the year, so it was his last opportunity to ride along. He still said no. I asked Monika if she wanted to go and she jumped up and yelled, "Yes!" As I was bringing Monika out to the combine, Dan decided that he wanted to go, after all.

I asked Erv if there was room in the combine for two little people and he said he thought so. We all climbed up and I helped Erv get Dan and Monika buckled in. As they drove out of the yard, their smiles were mile-wide.

I can only imagine the chatter inside the cab of the combine while the last of this year's corn was gleaned from the field for one last semi-load. But, by the time the combine pulled up to dump the last bushels, everyone was still smiling — including one happy farmer.

For Glen, the corn harvest always comes with anxiety. Between starting a day ahead of schedule, coordinating the combine and the trucks, and deciding how to market the corn we didn't have contracted, Glen was overwhelmed. He said he was more than relieved to be done.

All in all, the harvest went well. We don't have the last scale ticket yet, but it looks like our yield was less than we had calculated. The moisture levels and test weights on the first loads looked good, though, so we should do okay.

From the big picture stand-point, we did great. Given the growing conditions this year, we could have easily been left with no corn to combine.

And that would have made for one very disappointed farmer and one very disappointed little boy.


Thank you, God, for timely rains and for another safe harvest.