I know that the days have been getting shorter since the third week of June, but , all of a sudden, it's dark by 7:00 and barely light at 5:30! In no time at all we'll be down to winter hours.
The short sunshine hours take a big slice out of a harvesting day. Even if the weather is clear and the sun shines all day, the dew on the grass makes the crops too tough to combine by the time the sun goes down, and it takes until noon most days to dry the windrows enough to go again. The only thing that stretches the conditions out longer is a strong, warm wind that keeps the moisture off. The more crop farmers can get off before September starts, the better.
We have our rye in the bin and Glen has been combining the barley today. Mitchell spent the afternoon cutting the last of the oats we grew for greenfeed (to be baled for the cattle) and I tried to give the lawn what I hope is the last cut of the season.
We had our house full to overflowing this past weekend with our son and daughter-in-law home with their three children ( a two year old girl and three month old twin boys). Jacqui's parents and grandmother from Australia were also visiting for the five days and on Sunday, after a triple baptism, we had a sort of "come and go" meal so that friends and family could come out to see the babies. I think, all tolled, there were 37 people here throughout the day. It was a good day, but it was really good to go to bed that night!
The last of the company left this morning and we got back to work around here. While the men did field work today I tried to think of what Mitchell will need for his first apartment as he moves out on his own this weekend. The fellow he's sharing a small apartment with is already moved in and has started tech school. Mick is going to try out for Emergency Services Training School but won't know if he's made it until early next year. Meanwhile he's looking for gainful employment; his last day at the local Coop grocery store was last Saturday.
Brandon is only 100 miles away, and I thought we might see a lot of this last kid on weekends, but with the price of fuel the way it is, we'll be lucky to see him at all. It is just obscene what it costs to fill up a fuel tank these days, and before you agree with me, think of a farmer's plight. A combine alone can easily burn $600.00 worth a day. Add to that the grain trucks that haul the grain, the tractors that till the soil, the sprayers and swathers - the fuel bill of an average sized farm climbs into the tens of thousands of dollars just to get the job done.
We always listen to the market report at lunch time - although what we hear probably gives us indigestion: in less than a minute, they speel off the prices of fuel and grain commodities; the fuel continually goes up and the grain prices are pathetic. I honestly wonder how most farmers are surviving these days. I know when I spilled a little diesel fuel this afternoon, I felt like I'd committed a crime.
By this time next week, Glen and I will be empty nesters. Over the past month, as he has been preparing to leave, I've been on a mental journey of my own. I am the first to say it's time for him to step out on his own, but I just can't seem to let him do it without non-stop advice and/or warnings. I have been living this "mission to mother" for so long I don't know how to shut it off. He'll be fine - and eventually, I'm sure, so will I.
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