Harvest Time

Aaah, Harvest Time. That time of year when the men of the family come home from working 8 hours at their day jobs, and then REALLY go to work for the next 4 hours. This is when farm kids eat at least 4 meals: dinnerer is cookies, milk, and fruit after school, and supper is the main meal eaten at 8 p.m. When Mom fixes supper for the girls and little ones, then takes plates out for Dad and the big boys on their next round in with a wagon-load of corn to dump. When kids learn more lasting lessons than the ones they will sleep through the next day at school- heritage and pride and safety around machinery that can easily maim and kill. It's the time of year when the kitchen door stands open even if it's 20 degrees and the wind is blowing, because we need to listen to the dryer to make sure it's drying the corn right, and so we know when the tractor is coming in with its next load.   It's when we have absolutely no trouble sleeping at night. It's when the daily cares are set aside for more pertinent things like praying that the auger won't break and that the combine won't get clogged with rocks or moist stalks. It's a time for making lasting memories- like the time Uncle got stuck and Dad had to pull him out, or Grandpa forgot to tell Dad that the bin wasn't open and he dumped 1/2 a load of dry corn on the ground behind the bin!  It's a time chilly noses and frosty hands. It's when we get to tease Grandpa about "there goes our profits" when he overfills the wagons from the combine and some of the grain spills on the ground as it is taken back to the bins.  It's when, if you listen and are really good, you might get to play in the corn with sand pails and shovels, or ride back out to the field in the empty grain wagon.  It's a time for counting our blessings and seeing how much God has blessed us over the past several months!