Category Archives: Kansas

July 2020

by Nebraska Wheatie

The month of July was not the typical harvest month for Zeorian Harvesting.

The first day of July was also the last day we cut wheat for our farmer north of Chase, Kansas. This left us with a HUGE hole in what was next.

Our next job should have been Garden City. However, the crops in Chase and Garden basically ripened at the same time. The farmer we help in Garden has his own combine and had less acres this year than in past years. Tim was cutting wheat while we were cutting wheat. By the time we finished in Chase, he was nearly done with his crop and wouldn’t need the help of a second combine.

We had no direction to head except home, home.

Frank (our Freightliner truck) needed some work done on it. This was realized after we left home, of course. So, Jim decided this was the time we would take it and the trailer house back home and hang out until it was time to head for Jordan (Montana).

It was 103 degrees on the 2nd of July. This, of course, was clean-up day. Always.

On July 4th, we left The Beast sitting in the farmer’s yard and we headed home, home with the trailer house and Frank. We wanted to surprise the kids as they were gathering together at Jamie and Curt’s house to celebrate the holiday. When we pulled into the driveway later that day, they were surprised. But, not really. They sort of had an idea that maybe this is what we were going to do.

We haven’t celebrated the 4thof July with ALL of the girls since the summer of 2004.

We hung out at home until July 14.

The night before we left, Jim decided tomorrow was the day to head back to Kansas and catch-up with the rest of harvest again.

The morning we were preparing to leave, we received a telephone call from a fellow harvester wondering if we would want to help his crew near Hardin, Montana.

Absolutely!

Yay! We had a plan. Having a plan feels way better than not having a plan.

We made it back to Lyons the evening of the 14th and on the morning of the 15th, we headed north with our first trip. We returned to Lyons on the 18th and left again on the 19th with load #2. It was exactly one week from the point we left home that we arrived at our destination with all of our equipment. A very long week, indeed.

I have never seen so much wheat in one place! The farm was well over 10,000 acres – but not all wheat. You really should check out the YouTube channel just to see the sites on this farm!

We were still cutting wheat in Hardin on July 31.

Click here to view the YouTube daily videos. For July, you’ll want to watch Day 27 through Day 57.

To view the June videos, click here.

The heat of the day brewed up a few thunderheads. I don’t think it rained, though.
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Major Catch-up Required!

by Nebraska Wheatie

Goodness.

When I re-read the previous post, it made me wonder why I don’t just remain a little more committed to writing. It’s always so much fun to go back and see what the heck we were up to at the time.

And feel the emotions all over again.

After the previous post was created, we made the second trip to Kansas. And the 2020 wheat harvest began.

Last summer, I wanted to keep a daily “diary” via video. Words are great but it’s always fun to WATCH and really relive as though you’re there all over again. For the most part, I did post something daily. And Jim and I have had a lot of fun re-watching our moments over the past winter months.

Speaking of past winter months…it was a bit difficult at times. But, we made it! And, here we are again looking at the beginning stages of yet another wheat harvest. This will mark our 39th year of owning a combine and making the harvest lifestyle our life.

Back to the daily videos. If you’re at all interested, you can view all past videos AND subscribe for the 2021 summer journey by visiting our Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking YouTube channel. I’ve had several followers of the channel already contact me and ask me whether or not I intend to share our daily adventures again for 2021. My answer is, ABSOLUTELY!

Why am I here now? Well, because I completely walked away from my blog since last June, I didn’t share any of my pictures. I print my blog every year and it just wouldn’t be right to have only six months of 2020 in the book. So, I’m going to do a condensed version of the last half of 2020 in pictures and very few words to be sure my book is complete.

So, here goes…

June 2020

We left the house with our second trip on June 10. The final hours and minutes of getting the house shut down, saying goodbyes and actually leaving the driveway is never easy.

Eli refused to be part of the picture this year. He got in trouble and was boycotting being involved in any way.
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it’s starting to get real

by Nebraska Wheatie

Our world got a little bit scarier. This time, it’s not due to a virus or concern for a vaccine. Protests, violence, hatred, evil…nothing new to this world. It’s been around since the days of Adam and Eve. I don’t foresee it getting any better or any easier in the near future. If you believe what the Bible says, it won’t.

Everyone is drained from the craziness of this world. Everyone is mentally fatigued. Everyone just wants things to be “normal”. It sort of seems funny to think about the issues we were dealing with prior to March 12 and they all seem so much easier to bear. At the time, however, they did not.

We must persevere and continue to move forward – one baby step at a time.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

As I mentioned in the last post, harvest stops for none of this craziness. We will continue to work towards the goal of getting our equipment to Kansas and set up camp by middle of next week. The first load is supposed to begin tomorrow (6/5).

Prior to right now, harvest has been something we talk about while our daily lives continue. Now, however, it’s about to get real.

Real, real.

I wish I could just take everyone with us again!

Jim’s dad served in the Pacific Theater (Philippines, New Guinea and the Occupation of Japan) during WWll. We have pictures and we have stories. But to have actually gotten him to talk about this time in his life…he was mostly mute. No fanfare or hoopla. That’s not the way he was. He did what he had to do because of his love for this country and his family.
My favorite story is about him catching malaria while in the Philippines. He was so sick, the natives hauled him from the lines to wherever he could receive the care he needed.
When the war ended, his rank was Army Tech Sergeant. We called him dad and grandpa. Today, Memorial Day, his great grandchildren went to say hello!
Baby Wayne (aka Layne) is 6 months old! There’s a story behind this dress. It was purchased for my oldest niece, Jill. Jill is the daughter of Jim’s older sister, Maureen. Then, her sister, Holly, wore it when she was 6 months old. It was passed down to us and each of the girls wore it when they were 6 months old. The tradition continues with the next generation of girls. Both Nora and Layne have worn it. How fun is this?
This is Taylor at 6 months. Do you see any similarities?
Three generations of hands.
Lots and lots of time spent at these iris gardens over the years! I was never lucky enough to have had a sister but found a friend who is the next best thing! Trish and I have A LOT of great memories together over the past 35 years!!
I used to work with Trish in these iris gardens. We’d drag our kids along with us and they would just do whatever they could to get through the day. If you asked them now, they would tell you some of their favorite memories were created at those gardens!
He was SO excited to share his four-leaf clover with me! First one ever found.
The same view from a different standpoint. When I allow my brain to think way hard and deep, like it sometimes does, I think about all of life being like this. What we are used to viewing and observing takes on a whole different feel when it’s viewed from a different standpoint and a different perspective!
The reason for the above pictures. I was on top of The Beast helping Jim replace that auger cover. There was a wear hole in it that had to be repaired. I’m sure glad there was no one around watching the two of us remove it and then put it back in place. 🙂
The kids came over Tuesday afternoon. The summer heat has begun in Eastern Nebraska. We played and played in the pool, ate popsicles and did whatever we could to stay cool. We didn’t put the window air in because we will be leaving soon. Ben was a sticky, sticky mess but it didn’t matter when you could jump in the pool and it all disappeared!
Roasted hotdogs and s’mores for supper! It was so sultry – the fire was just too hot. You can visibly see this on Nora’s face.
Ben was holding down the picnic table while the others were cooking.
Can’t you just hear the evening sounds and smell that wet, damp Eastern Nebraska air?
I bought myself a new iphone 11 mostly for the updated camera. This is the moon, taken during the middle of the night outside the door of the tent. WOW! I can’t wait to take some evening harvest shots with this!
After the other three left yesterday afternoon, Layne came over to play while her mama was taking senior pictures. She was so sweet and so good for me. This was also taken in the complete dark of our bedroom. The camera on this phone is AMAZING! What a sweet angel.

I’m certainly going to miss these days with the kids – all of them! The Cottage on Wheels is parked right outside my back door. The many trips back and forth are about to begin and I’m dreading it.