Today (August 20) was a much cooler day. We began our day by putting the new part on the Beast and hoping the sprinkles would quit so we could get started again. We had lost nearly a whole day due to that breakdown and the miles we had to cover to get the new part. I believe it was nearly 10:00 by the time we were ready to rock ‘n roll again.

After you make repairs, you just hope there isn’t more damage from the piece that broke…especially when it’s part of the shaking system. We could only cross our fingers and hope nothing more would come from this. As it was, things ran as though the breakdown never happened.

Another harvester’s secret…Jim’s make-shift sink for the field. It works amazingly well! The sun warms it up so he has warm water at all times to wash his hands.

My day was a long one! I don’t know what the heck I was thinking when I left the Cottage without even a magazine to look at. I wasn’t thinking about being 45 miles from the nearest cell tower. I wasn’t thinking about sitting in the Frank all day wondering what to do next. I just wasn’t thinking. When I was in the combine all day, I didn’t have to worry about this. I’m learning the hard way.

So, today nearly killed me. At one point, I rearranged the space between the two seats in Frank so I could stretch out and take a nap. I dug through the pile of Jim’s equipment magazines and flyers in hopes of finding something to read. I did find a small magazine I enjoyed but that only lasted about 1/2 hour. I was so bored. I should have just walked up one of the hills in the field but was a little worried about snakes.

What I finally did do, though, was take a field trip to a location I’ve been to many times. Before I was the hired man, I used to come out here with friends. I have a lot of good memories of being out to the ranch with Charles and MaryAnn. I know Jamie and Jenna do too.

So, I jumped in the pickup and went for a ride.

A cemetery overlooking the Breaks – and the Snowy mountains in the distance.

This looks like a house but it’s a school. The teacher lives in part of the building while school is in session.

Love these mailboxes!

I was nearly back to the field when I hear Jim on the radio, “Tracy, you copy?” “Yeah” “Your truck is full” “Ok, be there in a second”

That worked out perfectly! And…it helped kill a portion of the day.

For those of you who know nothing about how the unloading goes, I’ll try to explain. The red auger carries the wheat that’s coming from the back of the truck to the yellow auger.

The grain falls from the back of the truck and is carried through the augers with “flighting”.

The yellow auger carries the wheat to the top of the grain bin. Once it reaches the top, it drops freely into the bin. As the bin gets fuller and fuller, the truck driver has to climb to the top and begin watching so it doesn’t get too full and the grain starts coming out. I have conquered some of my fear of heights by having to climb to the top of these.

Sharing the road.

If I were a cow, this is where I would be on a hot day, too!

Here come the clouds.

The weatherman is calling for rain beginning tomorrow (Thursday) through the weekend with much cooler temps. We’ll see if he’s right.