Templeton at the fair

Sep6 by nebraskawheatie

Before I explain the mention of Templeton, I’d like to go back to Sunday. As you know, we pulled into our driveway about 5:30 on Saturday evening. The next morning, I got a text from Jamie, “I made coffee and going after donuts”. Well, she knew she’d get both of us with that one! So, once again, we headed north to Louisville and got there just in time to see Curt heading to work. Sorry Curt! It was good to just sit around the table in their kitchen. We were all together again and it felt so good.

As the morning turned to noon, Jim decided he and I needed to make a trip to the shed to get his Toyota pickup. So, we left the girls to the job Jamie had planned for them – painting her bedroom. Once we got to the shed and drove the pickup out, we realized he’d had a critter claim the glove box and left a well designed nest made from materials such as the registration and insurance cards, string, and whatever else it could find in the pickup. Didn’t smell real good, though. Hope those critters don’t figure out how to get in the “cottage on wheels” this winter! They’d really have a grand time making the place their own.

On our way home, we stopped for a little more visiting. Had to see what was going on with Trish and Larry. Larry had minor back surgery just a couple of weeks ago so needed to get caught up on the doings at their house. We probably sat there at least 2 1/2 hours – just like we didn’t have anything else to do. I think both of us were putting off the work that needed to get done at home.

Once we made it back to the home place, Jim unloaded some of Frank and then decided the Pete needed a washing before we headed north again. We were rained on just enough on the way home to make EVERYTHING a grimy mess! While he did that, I got a few loads of laundry started and began the process of pulling weeds from the gardens. I was able to get the entire East side of the house back in order. At least when we go in the house from that door, I won’t have them staring at me. However, I certainly paid for my “strenuous” workout the next day! Sucks getting old!!! Back to Louisville for supper – pizza from Pizza Hut.

This brings us to yesterday – Monday – Happy Labor Day! Jim and I got up early and loaded what necessities we’d need for our trip in the Pete and headed for Grand Island. We hadn’t been to the State Fair in quite a few years and wanted to see how different it was being in Grand Island rather than Lincoln. The girls and Curt met us there. My brother, Matt, had been working the RFDtv booth all weekend and once he was done telling everyone, “yes, that really is Trigger and Bullet”, he met up with us and walked around. And, as the video portrays, we all turned into Templeton’s yesterday. Between all of us, we had prime rib sandwiches, bbq beef sandwiches, hand squeezed lemonade, cotton candy, funnel cakes, kettle corn, turkey leg, Ginny grinder, more cotton candy and more funnel cakes…almost forgot the corn dogs. THEN, the kids decided they wanted to go on one ride before we parted ways. Jamie, Callie and I opted for the wimpy ride – the ferris wheel – while the daring ones (Curt, Matt, Jenna and Taylor) opted for the “ring of fire”. I wish you could have seen the faces of the ones that rode the ring. A little white, a little nauseous. I don’t think the combination of funnel cakes, turkey legs and “ring of fire” set too well. The wimpy ones survived easily. We parted ways. Jim and I headed north and the rest of them headed home.

The first night spent in our travelling Hilton was in O’Neill – at the park I told you about a couple days ago. Today was spent driving the same road north that we just finished driving south. We met quite a few trucks loaded with hay and several loaded combines. Every time I’d see a combine I’d get a little excited cuz they had been in my world – the harvest world. However, once we got to the South Dakota interstate, we headed west and went through Rapid City before venturing north to Belle Fourche. Remember the restaurant I told you Jim really likes to make a stop at? We ate an early supper at the Belle Inn Restaurant. Drove into the Broadus weigh station for the 5th time this summer and are now spending the night in the truck parking lot in Miles City. This place is full of trucks tonight and we picked the empty slot between two “reefers”. On…off…on…off and so on. Thank goodness for ear plugs!

I will share a few of our fair highlights but if you want to see all the pictures, I will have them posted on the Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking Facebook page.

The first purchase of the morning. A corn dog.

Miniature replica of the NH harvest support truck.

I think Callie’s the only one that saw us waiting for them.

The girls are showing off their new “tats”.

This is how harvest equipment used to look.

Can you believe they paid $6 a bag for that?

Taking a much needed break! The fair was starting to wear on us at this point.

Left to right: Jamie, Taylor, Callie & Jenna

Jamie and Callie pretty excited for our ride on the Ferris Wheel.

Maybe now they’re not so excited. Both of them don’t really like heights very well. By the time it was over, though, they’d conquered their fear and were enjoying themselves.

The gang – after the “ring of fire” and the ferris wheel. I even made it in the pic – see the shadow?

Mark’s story

Aug31 by nebraskawheatie

God puts people into your paths at the most unusual and unsuspecting times!

When we began this harvesting adventure, Jim’s Dad went with us as the hired man for the first two years that we headed down the road. We loved having Grandpa with us and it was the BEST times and memories for Jamie and Jenna (all of us, really). Grandpa was there every day, watching the girls’ teeth being pulled, the first time riding a bike with no training wheels and there at the end of the day for a hug and a lap to sit in.

It was the third year of this adventure that we decided we’d make it a longer summer and maybe we should find someone to go with us rather than Grandpa. I remember Jim telling me, “I don’t know this kid personally but I know of him and I think he’d be good to take along-he likes equipment”. Mark was 16 when that conversation took place. I remember going to the store his mom owned to suggest the idea of Mark going along with us for the summer. Linda wasn’t real excited about the idea at first but after coming to our home and talking over the situation and what was to be expected, I think she was a little less concerned. Mark is the youngest of three boys so I can understand her hesitation of letting him take off at that age. Mark’s dad had passed away when he was 8 years old from a virus that attacked his heart. Before he could get a heart transplant, he passed away. Mark was the kind of kid that wasn’t afraid to try something and really wanted to go along with us. That probably helped with his mom’s decision.

The first summer he went with us, Grandpa also went. So, I had two men, a 16 year old boy and two young daughters to take care of. I didn’t mind the job, it was the rain that confined us for 30 days in Norton, KS that nearly drove me crazy. Seriously! I needed some adult female conversation and companionship in a bad way! Every day, there three men (almost) and two little girls sitting in my trailer just waiting for something to eat – nearly as soon as they had been fed one meal. I can laugh about it now but it wasn’t so funny at the time.

Mark became one of the family. He fought with Jamie and Jenna, just like an older brother. He was involved in our daily lives and fit in pretty well. There were times I think he and Jim probably felt like would like to kill each other but all in all, it worked out well. So, it wasn’t a surprise to us when he voiced his wanting to go on harvest with us the next summer. Grandpa didn’t go with us after the summer of ’92. Mark had finished his junior year of high school prior to that summer harvest. He had his own trailer house and probably felt like a big shot harvester by then. 🙂

Mark had made the decision of going along with us again for the third summer in 1994. He was a senior in high school when on the morning of April 1, he got word from his school administration that he needed to go home. His mom had complained of a headache that morning before he left for school. He told her goodbye before she decided that she needed to go lay back down for a while. She never woke up. It was determined that she had had a brain aneurism. My heart broke for him and his brothers! I can remember telling Jim that Mark needed to come live with us. When Mark’s dad passed away, Linda had appointed some friends of the family as guardians of any minor children in the event something happened to her. So, Mark had a family to live with and call home.

That summer was a tough one on Mark. We sat on the tailgate of the pickup many nights just talking and crying. Someone else claimed guardianship but Mark had become a part of our family two summers prior to that horrible event. God knew the plan that was being laid out for Mark and the Zeorian’s that very first summer!

Mark bought his own combine in 1995 and went on harvest as a partner with one of our friends for several summers. Until he met Candi and they were married. After they got married, Mark and Candi bought the local convenient store and made that work for quite some time. Three years ago, however, he sold the store and went to work for the local New Holland dealer. His heart really desired to remain involved with agriculture. As with Jim, Mark is a farmer at heart with no farm to farm. He also suffers from the same harvesting addiction that so many of us do.

As soon as he started selling the yellow combines, Mark tried convincing Jim to change colors and give the yellow one a try. Well, you can see he eventually won out because of the color change we made this spring. Mark and his family just spent their second year working for the New Holland Harvest Support team. Now, he and his family follow the harvest trail from TX to ND with the ripening wheat offering help to those of us New Holland combine owners. He’s following his own harvest adventure and I’m so very proud of him and all that he’s accomplished! Mark is still one to make things happen. He doesn’t know the word “no” or “impossible”. His level of persistence can sometimes get aggravating but it’s what has made him who he is and I wouldn’t want him any other way! I love ya, Mark!

Mark and Candi have two little girls, Brooklyn and Jillian, who call me Grandma and that’s just ok with me! They are the cutest darn girls in the whole world and loved whole heartedly by all of the Zeorian family. They were even flower girls in Jamie and Curt’s wedding in April.

Harvest can sometimes be more than just the adventure of heading down the highways from state to state – it can be a life changing event. I honestly believe people are put into our lives for a reason. What could be a better way to be involved in someone’s life than with harvest? Harvest is working together every day, working towards the same goal, and promoting team work. One job is not more important than the other. Harvest has put a variety of people in our lives and we’re blessed because of the experiences. I’m so thankful God put Mark and his family into our lives!