adios, oklahoma

Leaving a place that has become “home” tends to make a person think about certain things. The one thing that I’ve thought about a lot this year is the fact that I take for granted way too many things!  I found myself looking at my surroundings a little more intense this year. I sort of figured out that I don’t have a guarantee that I’ll be back next summer.  So, I soaked in the lush green countryside, the smell of the wheat chaff, the beautiful water-colored sunsets (especially after a brief thunderstorm), the intense oven-like temps of the south winds (or Oklahoma gales) and the birds. I tried to take as many pictures of the countryside and the wheat field as I dared. The hot winds and birds are a different story.

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Wordless Wednesday – Hands

I sat down to write a post about the final acres of wheat being cut today in Oklahoma; however, I decided to wait and will do a lengthy one later. I have a couple of really good pictures I wanted to share and since it’s “Wordless Wednesday”, I thought this was the perfect time.

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Our family’s oldest and youngest hands. Grandma Dickson (age 95) and Eli (2 mos.)

1006106_519687211418710_1880583576_nWorking hands…Jim threshing wheat for a quick quality check. (thanks for sharing, Taylor)

Blow on Oklahoma Wind!!

Yeah, the wind is blowing HARD today. But it’s just what we needed to get back in the field. We tried it late yesterday afternoon and was up against this the whole time –

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Z Crew is Gonna Hire Out as Rain Makers!

Last night, the conversation went sort of like this:

“Dad, will you cut wheat tomorrow?” – Taylor

“We should be able to, if it doesn’t rain tonight”. – Jim

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Father’s Day & Rain

Happy Father’s Day!!

What did the Z Crew do to celebrate? NOTHING! This just about drove Taylor and Callie completely bonkers. I, however, LOVED it. I needed this day to get caught up on book work and get a few things better organized.

It rained early this morning. There’s nothing better than rain on the roof of the trailer house. I know it’s early in the season and we’re already behind on acres but I needed a good down day. A day that meant nothing more would get done than what I allowed. It started at 9:30 am. Yep…I slept til then and it felt great! I’m not going to apologize for one second of it.

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Father’s Day & Rain

Happy Father’s Day!!

What did the Z Crew do to celebrate? NOTHING! This just about drove Taylor and Callie completely bonkers. I, however, LOVED it. I needed this day to get caught up on book work and get a few things better organized.

It rained early this morning. There’s nothing better than rain on the roof of the trailer house. I know it’s early in the season and we’re already behind on acres but I needed a good down day. A day that meant nothing more would get done than what I allowed. It started at 9:30 am. Yep…I slept til then and it felt great! I’m not going to apologize for one second of it.

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On Your Mark, Get Set…GO!

The transition from “home, home” to the harvest world has always been a hard one for me. It takes everything I have to push through it year after year after year. This time, though, it was the worst!

When we began this way of life as a family in 1990, we had a young family. I was young, Jim was young and we only had two of our four daughters at that time. Jamie would have been 4 and Jenna only 2. Taylor and Callie came along way after this lifelong adventure began for us. Funny how at the time my children were growing up (and I was getting older), I never really thought about them growing up – and not being with us.

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