It was so hot under that August sun! Day after hot day it beat down on man and beast. It couldn't seem to rain. The ground was drying out more every day.
The 80 acres across the road looked horrible. It was plastered with all kinds of weeds. Eight foot sunflowers stood tall among velvet weeds and mare's tail. Bind weed grew there among grass and wheat stubble. All of our 200 acres was like that because the previous renters would not let us in to work it until August. Sometimes farmers are like that. They don't like land to be taken away. Both Mark and I felt bad about this, but we were determined to make it work!
Finally our day came! "If I would go out this afternoon and cut out some terraces would you be able to do some plowing?" Mark asked. "I can take my turn but I have so much repair work that needs done."
"Oh, I'll give it a try but don't get upset if I goof up."
"I'll start you across the road on the 80 first in case you have trouble."
"Trouble?....why would I have trouble?" I asked with a chuckle. "Now do you really think you could find me in that jungle?"
It would really be kind of fun to hook on to the pull plow and watch those huge weeds fall and be covered with dirt. Mark had gotten fancy and put a cylinder on the plow so instead of reaching back and pulling on the rope to lift it out of the ground you would just push a lever! What a smart man to think of that one!
I slowly walked down the drive way, my old water jug swinging at my side. Crossing the road I could see where Mark had made a couple trips around the field, because a black path of dirt lead away into the forest of unplowed sunflowers. I plopped down on the plowed ground to wait, my water jug setting there beside me, my legs bent at the knees. I could hear his tractor somewhere out there.
Here he came slowly out from all those...well "weed trees"! The old tractor was in full throttle the little cover on the smoke stack sticking straight up.
Mark brought the tractor to a stop. "Hop up here and ride a round so you'll know the layout and I can explain some things to you."
I handed the water jug to him and climbed aboard.
"Sit here on the seat with me," he said scooting over to make room.
"I'm going in third gear and full throttle. See that furrow? Just try to keep the front right tire and back tire in it as you're plowing. Sometimes you may need to use this lever to lift the plow out or lower it, if the tractor engine starts to pull down," he told me pointing to the inside lever on his right.
Wow, my head was filling up fast with all those "dos and don'ts". On we went, the weeds flopping over and black dirt covering most of them. Some weed heads still stuck up, refusing to be covered. It made it kind of ugly really.
There were plenty of hard spots also. The old tractor engine would pull down and Mark would lift the plow up until sometimes it was barely under the ground. Hard, dry chunks would pull up and fall over where they were making an uneven surface.
"Hey honey," I said tapping him on the shoulder "it looks like the plow is plugging up back there."
"Oh great, I should have been watching closer! Well, we'll have to clean it out!" Mark said as he stopped the tractor and hopped down. Oh goodness! What a mess!
There were sunflowers, bind weed, wheat stubble and dirt all mixed together packed tight in between the plow blades and the plow frame!
"Lift it out of the ground! It's the inside lever pulled all the way back."
Down I jump and back to try and help. What a mess! You just start pushing and pulling making your way into the mess. Getting hold of a weed and pulling it, sometimes it comes, sometimes it breaks off in the dirt. Mark stands up and takes the heel of his boot and braces himself and kicks at the dirt. Some falls away. Then down again on our knees using our hands. Man it is hot, hot, hot! Push, pull, kick, over and over until finally the plow is free!
Wiping the sweat off his face, Mark hops back on the tractor and steers it out into the plowed ground dragging all that mess with him. There it lays all strewn out on that black cloddy ground.
I hop back up on the seat and we're off once again. The wind hitting our sweat soaked clothes felt so good!
"You really have to watch that close. The blades aren't as sharp as they should be and with all this bind weed, well you get in a mess. If you watch close you can sometimes steer the tractor back and forth and avoid plugging, but I'll tell you now, you will be cleaning it out plenty!"
Those stupid corners were a whole different story. I hated them! Why oh why couldn't you just lift it out and pull out into the plowed dirt and turn around and head back? No...you had to keep them rounded. Well, I won't even try to explain to you how that was done because I never figured it out myself. The way I did corners was pushed on the inside brake, turned the steering wheel as far as I needed to and half way kept that front tire in the dead farrow. Guess what? He never asked me about them!
We had made it back to the gate. "Do you think you can handle it?"
"All I can say is that I will give it a try."
Down he jumped, I sat there just right on the seat, checking out the levers. Okay, pull back and the plow comes out, push forward it goes in. Got it. I push in on the clutch and put it in third gear, give it full throttle, let up easy on the clutch and I'm off!
I sit there, one hand on the steering wheel, first looking back then looking forward. Oh shoot, the dumb front tire is up on the plowed area, get it back in the furrow, okay all is good, looking back, I do not want that plow to plug! On and on I go.
Oh guess what? One of those wonderful corners! Okay, I need to keep that front tire in the farrow. Wow I did it, and the plow didn't plug up either! Super! Now I could get used to this...maybe.
On and on I go there under the hot sun. I'm starting to feel a little more relaxed. Oh shoot, the plow is starting its thing. No! I was not going to get plugged up...no! I steer it out a bit on the plowed ground and then back in the furrow. All of a sudden, from out of no where it was filled to the brim with weeds, dirt, grass and wheat stubble, and riding along on top of the ground! Oh darn! I step on the clutch, put it out of gear, lift the plow as high as it will go, get down and walk back to the mess.
Oh why did those people keep us out of here so long? I say to the air, the tractor, the plow...whoever will listen! Bending down, I start to dig. At first it comes out easy then just a little now and then. I remembered a big screw driver by the tractor seat so I go get it. I jabbed at the dirt then pull out a weed, push with my hands, jab some more. After about 20 minutes, it all comes loose and wow the plow is free! I take a arm load of that stuff and drag it out to the plowed ground and leave it there in a heap.
I wipe my dirty arm across my forehead to get the sweat from my eyes, get back on the tractor, take a long drink of water, and I'm off again. How long will I stay up here do you suppose until I'm doing THAT again! Around and around I went most of the afternoon. The unplowed part getting smaller and smaller. There were piles of weeds all over the place. I got tired of laying it in front of the tractor so I did like Mark and just drug it out on the plowed area. Good grief, we had 200 acres of this stuff and I was only done with three terraces!
A few days later we had completed the 80 and had moved down the road to the east. This field lay back in a pasture and was flat creek ground. No terraces, thank goodness, but bunches of bind weed!
I was having all kinds of trouble that afternoon. For some reason, my old plow was always getting plugged up and bunches of weeds lay everywhere. I was hot, tired and sore.
As evening came on, it got cooler. What a relief! I had just got done unplugging the dumb thing for the trillionth time and going along pretty well...really well to be exact. I looked behind and low and behold my poor old plow sat all alone a few hundred yards back! I had not noticed when the hitch pen came out and the hydraulic hoses had popped loose! No wonder things were going so well!
Oh great..wonderful! I went and lost the plow. Oh forget it, I'm too tired to hitch it back up. I just cut out across the plowed ground and headed home.
"What happened?" Mark asked coming from the shop all greasy.
"Oh, I'm DONE!" I said getting off the tractor. "The plow is out in the middle of the weeds somewhere!"
"I'll take care of it. You get cleaned up and get something to eat."
I stomped off to the trailer house about in tears. Would we ever get these fields ready? How can Mark be so calm about it? Grrrr anyway!
It was getting dark and still no Mark. I was getting worried. Lots of "what if's" were going over in my mind. I better go check on him. I find my shoes and run to the pick up, put it in reverse and backed around, maybe a bit to fast. Then I heard it! That terrible yelp from our dog Tinker!
Oh my gosh..no...not that on top of everything else! I just knew he was dead! Poor Tinker! Well, I wasn't going to look because that would for sure send me over the edge. I'll just go get Mark. I tore off in high gear, down the road, back through the pasture and into the plowed ground. Bounce...bounce! Why is this so rough? Before I knew what had happened I went flying up and banged my head on the ceiling of the cab! "Ouch!" I screamed into the air, rubbing my neck. There he came around the corner of the creek. I blinked my lights at him. He kept on coming, right toward me, full throttle ahead. I blinked my lights again. It appeared that he didn't even see me! I blinked again and honked! Finally, he slowed the tractor and I ran up to him.
"Now what?" he asked as I ran toward the tractor.
"I think I backed over Tinker!" I said out of breath. "Will you come and see? Please! He could be really suffering! Please!"
"Okay okay, I'll just quite for the night and ride home with you. Just wait a minute."
"I can't look," I said as we drove in the drive. "Just tell me if he's laying there by the gas tanks. Is he hurt bad or maybe dead? Poor Tinker, I didn't mean it." I whimpered through my tears.
"Well, it looks like he must have resurrected or something. He's sitting on the porch wagging his tail." Mark said with a laugh.
"Oh are you sure? It's not funny Mark. I could have really hurt him!"
"It's time for bed for you young lady!"
It took us another week to finish the fieldwork, but finally we completed all those 200 acres! What a happy day! Really, a person had to have LOTS of faith when they looked out over those black fields with piles of weeds, heads sticking up all over the place, and clods, I mean huge, hard clods everywhere.
But deep in our hearts, when we looked over that seemingly hopeless land, we both could see a golden field of wheat waving in the wind. And that kept us going.
The 80 acres across the road looked horrible. It was plastered with all kinds of weeds. Eight foot sunflowers stood tall among velvet weeds and mare's tail. Bind weed grew there among grass and wheat stubble. All of our 200 acres was like that because the previous renters would not let us in to work it until August. Sometimes farmers are like that. They don't like land to be taken away. Both Mark and I felt bad about this, but we were determined to make it work!
Finally our day came! "If I would go out this afternoon and cut out some terraces would you be able to do some plowing?" Mark asked. "I can take my turn but I have so much repair work that needs done."
"Oh, I'll give it a try but don't get upset if I goof up."
"I'll start you across the road on the 80 first in case you have trouble."
"Trouble?....why would I have trouble?" I asked with a chuckle. "Now do you really think you could find me in that jungle?"
It would really be kind of fun to hook on to the pull plow and watch those huge weeds fall and be covered with dirt. Mark had gotten fancy and put a cylinder on the plow so instead of reaching back and pulling on the rope to lift it out of the ground you would just push a lever! What a smart man to think of that one!
I slowly walked down the drive way, my old water jug swinging at my side. Crossing the road I could see where Mark had made a couple trips around the field, because a black path of dirt lead away into the forest of unplowed sunflowers. I plopped down on the plowed ground to wait, my water jug setting there beside me, my legs bent at the knees. I could hear his tractor somewhere out there.
Here he came slowly out from all those...well "weed trees"! The old tractor was in full throttle the little cover on the smoke stack sticking straight up.
Mark brought the tractor to a stop. "Hop up here and ride a round so you'll know the layout and I can explain some things to you."
I handed the water jug to him and climbed aboard.
"Sit here on the seat with me," he said scooting over to make room.
"I'm going in third gear and full throttle. See that furrow? Just try to keep the front right tire and back tire in it as you're plowing. Sometimes you may need to use this lever to lift the plow out or lower it, if the tractor engine starts to pull down," he told me pointing to the inside lever on his right.
Wow, my head was filling up fast with all those "dos and don'ts". On we went, the weeds flopping over and black dirt covering most of them. Some weed heads still stuck up, refusing to be covered. It made it kind of ugly really.
There were plenty of hard spots also. The old tractor engine would pull down and Mark would lift the plow up until sometimes it was barely under the ground. Hard, dry chunks would pull up and fall over where they were making an uneven surface.
"Hey honey," I said tapping him on the shoulder "it looks like the plow is plugging up back there."
"Oh great, I should have been watching closer! Well, we'll have to clean it out!" Mark said as he stopped the tractor and hopped down. Oh goodness! What a mess!
There were sunflowers, bind weed, wheat stubble and dirt all mixed together packed tight in between the plow blades and the plow frame!
"Lift it out of the ground! It's the inside lever pulled all the way back."
Down I jump and back to try and help. What a mess! You just start pushing and pulling making your way into the mess. Getting hold of a weed and pulling it, sometimes it comes, sometimes it breaks off in the dirt. Mark stands up and takes the heel of his boot and braces himself and kicks at the dirt. Some falls away. Then down again on our knees using our hands. Man it is hot, hot, hot! Push, pull, kick, over and over until finally the plow is free!
Wiping the sweat off his face, Mark hops back on the tractor and steers it out into the plowed ground dragging all that mess with him. There it lays all strewn out on that black cloddy ground.
I hop back up on the seat and we're off once again. The wind hitting our sweat soaked clothes felt so good!
"You really have to watch that close. The blades aren't as sharp as they should be and with all this bind weed, well you get in a mess. If you watch close you can sometimes steer the tractor back and forth and avoid plugging, but I'll tell you now, you will be cleaning it out plenty!"
Those stupid corners were a whole different story. I hated them! Why oh why couldn't you just lift it out and pull out into the plowed dirt and turn around and head back? No...you had to keep them rounded. Well, I won't even try to explain to you how that was done because I never figured it out myself. The way I did corners was pushed on the inside brake, turned the steering wheel as far as I needed to and half way kept that front tire in the dead farrow. Guess what? He never asked me about them!
We had made it back to the gate. "Do you think you can handle it?"
"All I can say is that I will give it a try."
Down he jumped, I sat there just right on the seat, checking out the levers. Okay, pull back and the plow comes out, push forward it goes in. Got it. I push in on the clutch and put it in third gear, give it full throttle, let up easy on the clutch and I'm off!
I sit there, one hand on the steering wheel, first looking back then looking forward. Oh shoot, the dumb front tire is up on the plowed area, get it back in the furrow, okay all is good, looking back, I do not want that plow to plug! On and on I go.
Oh guess what? One of those wonderful corners! Okay, I need to keep that front tire in the farrow. Wow I did it, and the plow didn't plug up either! Super! Now I could get used to this...maybe.
On and on I go there under the hot sun. I'm starting to feel a little more relaxed. Oh shoot, the plow is starting its thing. No! I was not going to get plugged up...no! I steer it out a bit on the plowed ground and then back in the furrow. All of a sudden, from out of no where it was filled to the brim with weeds, dirt, grass and wheat stubble, and riding along on top of the ground! Oh darn! I step on the clutch, put it out of gear, lift the plow as high as it will go, get down and walk back to the mess.
Oh why did those people keep us out of here so long? I say to the air, the tractor, the plow...whoever will listen! Bending down, I start to dig. At first it comes out easy then just a little now and then. I remembered a big screw driver by the tractor seat so I go get it. I jabbed at the dirt then pull out a weed, push with my hands, jab some more. After about 20 minutes, it all comes loose and wow the plow is free! I take a arm load of that stuff and drag it out to the plowed ground and leave it there in a heap.
I wipe my dirty arm across my forehead to get the sweat from my eyes, get back on the tractor, take a long drink of water, and I'm off again. How long will I stay up here do you suppose until I'm doing THAT again! Around and around I went most of the afternoon. The unplowed part getting smaller and smaller. There were piles of weeds all over the place. I got tired of laying it in front of the tractor so I did like Mark and just drug it out on the plowed area. Good grief, we had 200 acres of this stuff and I was only done with three terraces!
A few days later we had completed the 80 and had moved down the road to the east. This field lay back in a pasture and was flat creek ground. No terraces, thank goodness, but bunches of bind weed!
I was having all kinds of trouble that afternoon. For some reason, my old plow was always getting plugged up and bunches of weeds lay everywhere. I was hot, tired and sore.
As evening came on, it got cooler. What a relief! I had just got done unplugging the dumb thing for the trillionth time and going along pretty well...really well to be exact. I looked behind and low and behold my poor old plow sat all alone a few hundred yards back! I had not noticed when the hitch pen came out and the hydraulic hoses had popped loose! No wonder things were going so well!
Oh great..wonderful! I went and lost the plow. Oh forget it, I'm too tired to hitch it back up. I just cut out across the plowed ground and headed home.
"What happened?" Mark asked coming from the shop all greasy.
"Oh, I'm DONE!" I said getting off the tractor. "The plow is out in the middle of the weeds somewhere!"
"I'll take care of it. You get cleaned up and get something to eat."
I stomped off to the trailer house about in tears. Would we ever get these fields ready? How can Mark be so calm about it? Grrrr anyway!
It was getting dark and still no Mark. I was getting worried. Lots of "what if's" were going over in my mind. I better go check on him. I find my shoes and run to the pick up, put it in reverse and backed around, maybe a bit to fast. Then I heard it! That terrible yelp from our dog Tinker!
Oh my gosh..no...not that on top of everything else! I just knew he was dead! Poor Tinker! Well, I wasn't going to look because that would for sure send me over the edge. I'll just go get Mark. I tore off in high gear, down the road, back through the pasture and into the plowed ground. Bounce...bounce! Why is this so rough? Before I knew what had happened I went flying up and banged my head on the ceiling of the cab! "Ouch!" I screamed into the air, rubbing my neck. There he came around the corner of the creek. I blinked my lights at him. He kept on coming, right toward me, full throttle ahead. I blinked my lights again. It appeared that he didn't even see me! I blinked again and honked! Finally, he slowed the tractor and I ran up to him.
"Now what?" he asked as I ran toward the tractor.
"I think I backed over Tinker!" I said out of breath. "Will you come and see? Please! He could be really suffering! Please!"
"Okay okay, I'll just quite for the night and ride home with you. Just wait a minute."
"I can't look," I said as we drove in the drive. "Just tell me if he's laying there by the gas tanks. Is he hurt bad or maybe dead? Poor Tinker, I didn't mean it." I whimpered through my tears.
"Well, it looks like he must have resurrected or something. He's sitting on the porch wagging his tail." Mark said with a laugh.
"Oh are you sure? It's not funny Mark. I could have really hurt him!"
"It's time for bed for you young lady!"
It took us another week to finish the fieldwork, but finally we completed all those 200 acres! What a happy day! Really, a person had to have LOTS of faith when they looked out over those black fields with piles of weeds, heads sticking up all over the place, and clods, I mean huge, hard clods everywhere.
But deep in our hearts, when we looked over that seemingly hopeless land, we both could see a golden field of wheat waving in the wind. And that kept us going.
Okay, I'm laughing! :) Your accounts of farm life are the best!!!
ReplyDeleteI know August in Kansas can be HOT, and I've seen the deep cracks in the dry ground! I can only imagine the toil and frustration that you wrote of! Anxiously awaiting the next chapter.
ReplyDelete