Chapter 14 Surviving 1980

Mark slowly drove into our yard pulling a used big round baler behind the pickup. Bret sat like a little man there beside him. Both had big smiles on their faces. They had been over to Mr. Nagley's farm to buy the baler this morning. Mr Negley lived about 30 minutes east of us and was our Vermeer dealer.

"Oh look Kate. Daddy and Bret are pretty happy, I'd say. Looks like they bought themselves a new toy!" I said as she and I hurried to the pickup. I always felt a bit of pride you might say when Mark upgraded his equipment a bit. I don't know-- maybe not pride exactly-- just happiness for the man I loved. Yes. That's it!

Mark and I had decided it was time to switch our "silo days" to "baling days". It was becoming such a hassle to find help, especially since I was not able to help as much. Then, just face it...Mark was getting plum tired of those trips up and down the silo! I had always hated the day he had to crawl around the top of those tall things so I sure didn't discourage the idea, that's for sure! The time had come for a switch, even if Grandpa didn't really understand.

By the time we girls got out there, Mark and Bret had climbed out of the pickup and Mark was walking around the big yellow thing, looking at this and that. Bret came running toward us all excited.

"Mommy. Look what Daddy got! Come see it." He was pulling me forward as fast as his little legs could go.

"I haven't seen many of these around the neighborhood so hopefully we can do a little custom work for a few neighbors. That would sure help pay for it", Mark explained as he pulled the pin and set the jack under the hitch.

We had bought a used rake earlier and Roy did our swathing, so we felt that we could make this work. There was a nice 25 acre patch of alfalfa behind Grandpa's place and some prairie hay patches here and there. Mark would plant a little sudan, which was a tall feed and could be baled up easily. It was a bit scary really, to make this switch because with silage we would have a couple fields of corn to chop. But you can't very well bale corn! Well, sometimes you have to just "jump in" and do what you have to do.

As March turned to April and April to May, Mark started to get a little nervous. It just wasn't raining! At least in our area. The winter had been rather dry also. I was getting that feeling all farm wives get. You watch the cracks in the ground grow bigger. You watch your wheat crop turn from a dark green to a blue tint. You look at that big blue sky for some sign of clouds. Once in a while you would get a quarter inch, and really rejoice when your husband came in and said "We got a half inch last night." Then, for just a little while, your mind would relax and you would visualize plenty of feed for the coming winter, full ponds, dark green wheat. But then you would stand outside and see dark blue storm clouds once again go to the south, without a drop of rain on your farm ,and reality would again set in

There were always signs of hope if you looked close enough and with the right attitude. At least Mark could see them. One late afternoon I too saw a sign of hope. It would be forever imprinted in my mind. The day was hot and windy, drying out the ground deeper, inch by inch. In the late afternoon it became cloudy and the wind started to blow from the north, cooling the day down considerably. Lightening flashed in the south followed by claps of thunder. Mark came rushing in, hope filling his face. He was sure we were going to get our long awaited rain. It looked so promising.

We all four waited. We listened. The thunder clapped. It got dark. Then all of a sudden the thunder was fading. It was going away. Only a few drops wet our sidewalk. Oh, the disappointment on Mark's face was more than I could stand. I ran out to the back porch and just stood there asking " why God...why doesn't it rain? Mark tries so hard! I just don't understand."

As I stood there, the storm moved on. It did not rain. I did not get what I wanted. But somewhere in the west the sun peeked out from under the clouds. I looked to the east and my heart stood still. There against the backdrop of dark blue storm clouds were the tall cottonwoods. Arched over top of them was the most perfect, the most beautiful double rainbow I had ever seen. And standing there beside those tall cottonwoods was a deer, his head raised looking at me.

"Come here you guys." I called quietly to them. "This is just breathtaking."

They came out, Bret, Kate and Mark. We stood there looking, all three of us. "I am sure it will rain, and I'm sure we will be just fine." Mark said in a whisper as we stood there in silence.

Farmers all around struggles through the 80's. The price of land went up and then it fell down. The interest sky rocked. The price of grain fell. And on top of all this it was dry. Most of this didn't affect us as we only rented and the only money we had borrowed was for the house and the interest was set. Really, I can't say it didn't affect us because when you are married to a farmer like Mark, you can see the concern written on his face for the farmers who he knows, that are affected by this. We baled for neighbors but didn't charge any more than we just had to. Mark just couldn't do it. So we plodded on, just like all the rest of our farmer friends, all of us hoping for a better future. All of us holding out hope for each other.

A couple neighbors asked Mark to bale a few fields for them. Old Bud up on the corner and George a few miles north. Of course we baled for Roy, but because he swathed ours it was just a switch. Roy was so optimistic! He would come bouncing {driving} into Grandpa's place, his arm hanging out the window and say "I think it is ready to roll anytime Mark." He meant that his hay was ready to bale. So many times his positive attitude kept us going.

We found out that we could cut down some of our wheat and bale it up for extra cattle feed. If we did that before we harvested it, then they would pay us a little for the wheat we destroyed plus we would have some extra cattle feed, so Mark decided to take advantage. We also got permission to cut the grass in the ditches along the interstate. This was a rough job....the ground was really bumpy. It was a little scary out there so close to all those big semi trucks and cars zipping past you at 70 mph!

There were a few times Mark needed me to help him, so Bret would pack his favorite toys in a little bag, and I would put a bottle of juice and some diapers in the diaper bag and over we would go to Von's or my aunt's place. I don't know what I would have done without those ladies.

Sometimes it can totally "blow your mind" just how far your parents go to help you out! My mom and dad live about 150 miles north of us. For two years dad insisted he drive, yes I mean drive, his Massy combine down to help us! There is no cab on it and I know he had to be hot. They started early in the morning, coming the back highways. He was on the combine and mom and my little brother followed behind him. It took all day. They stopped somewhere at noon to eat lunch, but otherwise it was chugging along in that old truck mile after mile. I guess there are some people that we will always be indebted to.

In late August we were able to make our fourth house payment. I was so proud of Mark! This year we paid the interest and a thousand dollars! Little by little the amount was going down.

I had received a little extra money for my birthday and our anniversary so Mark insisted I spend it on something for myself. I decided it would be fun to decorate the house up a bit. I refused to spend any more than my birthday money. By putting it all together, we had enough to panel one wall in our living room, and wallpaper the wall in the hallway going to the bedrooms. I was so excited! It would look so much cozier.

But I had to wait. The cows had to come in for the winter. The sows had to be moved down here from Grandpa's place and put in their little huts. We were expecting babies soon. There was the wheat crop to get in the ground. Mark made quite a fog of dust out there with the drill. We kept saying to each other...."Plant in the dust...Your bins will bust." I wouldn't be surprised if Mark believed it, but me....I'm not sure. Goodness. I definitely needed an attitude adjustment!

Finally the day came! We were going to start hanging paper! It was right after Bret and Kate's birthdays and a week or so after Thanksgiving. It took a few weeks because it was all done at night after the kids were tucked in bed. On December 10th we had completed it. It looked like a "million dollars!" What a special gift!