The yellow rose is blooming.
The rose-ometer is telling us it’s time to be heading south. Wishing we were joining those fortunate enough to have something to head there for!
In past years, this was the indicator that it was time to be packing the trailer house, getting equipment loaded and heading south.
While looking for some pictures recently, I came across a gem of a throwback dated July 13, 1977. Marge Bale of the Sidney (Nebraska) Telegraph visited our camp while we were cutting wheat in the Lodgepole area to gather her “story”. I thought it would be a good treasure to keep on this blog and to share with you. My goodness…I see quite a few things have changed since then!
Tecumseh, Nebraska store fronts around the town square.
So, it seems I’ve been to more small towns in Nebraska the last several days than usual. From one end of the state to the other. East to west and back east again. I’ve seen thriving communities and some that are basically dying – if not dead.
And hidden gems.
Our brief, but eventful, weekend ended yesterday.
We left Lusk about 8:00 am “their time” or 9:00 am “our time”. I’m certain the Graham family has a love/hate relationship when the Z’s come to visit. They are always so good to us and take care of us so well. And we ALWAYS have a grand time with them – ALWAYS! BUT…when it’s time to say goodbye, I know they are secretly thinking, “Oh no, here we go again”. Goodbyes are never easy for me. The tears come easily – they always have so I can’t even blame it on getting older. And then there’s the dreaded hugs. I know not everyone is a hugger; however, I am. And if you’re going to be someone I care about…you’re going to get hugged – at some point!
We left after the hugs (there were no tears…well, none that were visible to the Graham’s anyways). Taylor behind the wheel and Callie sitting shotgun. I took the backseat for two reasons. 1. The car we drove has awful front seats even though it’s supposed to be a “luxury” car. All they do is create more of a lower back issue for me than I already have. 2. I figured the sisters would have a good time being able to chat. Taylor was on a mission. We needed to get to the Kearney Archway in plenty of time to go through the exhibit and it closed at 5:00 pm “our time”.
Taylor sent a text to the entire family several weeks ago, “Going to Lusk the first weekend in May to Collette’s graduation. Who’s in?”
No one had to ask me more than once! I was definitely in!
The Graham family has been more family than friends for a very long time. It goes way back to the first year we landed in Jordan, Montana in 1981. My grandparents and parents cut for Nicole’s dad, Charlie. Nicole was five years old. She now has a family of her own. When we used to go to Jordan, the girls hung out at their house all the time…practically living there, I would say. So, they’ve been pretty darn special to us for quite some time. And not just Nicole but the whole darn Murnion clan!
To be honest with you, I’d much rather be in sunny Anaheim, California today. It’s Commodity Classic week and seeing a lot of my social media “tribe” in one location and not being there makes me feel like I wasn’t invited to the party. 🙂 But, you know, if you don’t farm, you’re not involved with an organization, not part of Ag media or selling anything a farmer would want, why would you be there? For the best reason, I guess…to see friends…to reconnect. So, I’m hoping everyone has a great time in sunny California while I’m left here to deal with foggy, cold Nebraska. (Sense my sarcasm?)
So, December rolled around. And so did some of the coldest temps we’ve seen in quite a long time. We had -20 on New Year’s Eve. And Jim agreed to go out. I’m certain it was only because we had already made plans with friends. And these friends only live about three miles from us but we don’t do anything together but once a year – on New Year’s Eve.
So, let’s start at the beginning and work our way through the month.
We celebrated Miss Nora’s third birthday with a Barbie cake, lots and lots of pink and one pretty excited little girl!
This was taken on her actual birthday.
On Nora’s birthday, we kidnapped Eli and took him to the Nebraska Power Farming Show – the 2nd largest indoor Ag show in the US. We had great fun climbing in and on and around and through every piece of equipment possible. Eli truly was in heaven.
Beginning the day of fun!
About ten days later, we escaped for a few days and hung out with awesome friends (Bruce & Leigh Krumbach) in Kansas City. Our excuse was to do a little “antiquing”. We had so much fun! We got to hang out with friends, eat out and stay in a hotel. Something the kids always loved doing.
We really didn’t plan dressing alike that morning!
If you haven’t visited Union Station in December, you really should. It was absolutely beautiful!
Do you know how hard it was not to start laughing? I was trying so very hard to keep a solemn look!
This is what it’s all about…lifelong friendships!
And now we’re getting closer to Christmas. I had the little kids come over on Jamie’s birthday (the 23rd) so she and Curt could go out and celebrate. They spent the night…under the Christmas tree. The next day, the bigger kids (Brooklyn and Jillian) came over to help us decorate Christmas cookies.
We turned a large box into a “house”. They claimed they were going to take their naps inside… yeah right.
Making Christmas gifts for Mom, the Aunties and Grandma Sandy.
The gang was all together for the annual cookie decoration day (Christmas Eve).
And then it was Christmas.
Our house is so small when everyone shows up. BUT…it’s full and it’s loud and it’s chaotic and I absolutely love having everyone home!
One of my lucky “finds” in Kansas City. Eli was going through quite the cowboy stage at this time.
The house got a little bit fuller in the evening when Mark, Candi, Brooklyn and Jillian came over for supper and more presents to unwrap. We all decided, again, to bypass getting gifts for everyone and instead spending the money on a family vacation. We’ll be spending a week together the middle of March in Florida. Can’t wait to wake up to the kids every day for a week. Something we used to do every day and didn’t even think about years ago. Now, it’s a treat!
Oldest and youngest.
The gang!
Jamie sent me this picture of Eli one day after Christmas. What a kid!
And that’s it for 2017. Another year come and gone and now we’re well into 2018. Jamie just made a comment today, “You’ll be leaving for the summer before we know it”. Yep, it seems once February is over, spring comes pretty quickly. I know we’re all ready for the warmer weather and getting outside again. The day I’ll have to tell everyone goodbye, though, comes all too quickly now.
We had a nine-day window of time before Callie and I had to be back to Vegas to pick up the Nebraska Wheat Growers’ Mobile Baking Lab from the convention center.
In that time frame, we celebrated Taylor’s 23rd birthday and I made a brief trip to the corn field for an afternoon.
Callie and Taylor
Celebrating in style! Jenna, Callie & Taylor
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATE, TEE TEE, DEET, TATOR BUG…TAYLOR!
I did something tonight that I don’t usually do (unless I’m sick). I was actually laying on the couch, wrapped up to my chin with a fleece blanket. We’ve been cold and snowy here in Eastern Nebraska much longer than I really care to be. Once my body gets cold it takes blankets and/or a hot bath to really feel warm again. Tonight, I was hoping the blanket would do the trick. I guess that’s why I was on the couch.
The TV was on (more so for noise) and Jim was sitting in his chair looking at his phone. I thought about this particular scene as I looked at the carpet on the floor. My thoughts immediately went from the current moment to remembering what the floor looked like when we first moved in, which led to the carpet, which led to the chaos and craziness of this particular area of the house, which led to the quietness of the house, which led to why I’m writing.
The end of October was the beginning of a big adventure for me and Callie. Shortly after we got home, home from Colorado, I received a phone call from Caroline, the Executive Director for the Nebraska Wheat Growers Association. She had a plan and was wondering if Jim and I would be up for helping her out.
The plan involved a road trip from Lincoln, Nebraska to Las Vegas with their mobile baking lab. Ardent Mills wanted to use it as part of the Tim Horton Owners Convention. Would we be interested in driving the lab to Vegas, getting on a plane to come home, getting on another plane to go back to Vegas and driving the lab home? I thought it sounded like an awesome adventure and I was honored she even thought of us to help her out. I, however, didn’t want to get my hopes up because I knew Jim would be in the field and wouldn’t be able to help. I told her I would definitely be in…as long as I could find someone to go with me.
I have become a harvester’s widow.
Jim’s been the sole fall harvester since we started this business. That means he’s been the only one in the soybean and corn crops for the past 30 years. And this year is no different. There was some talk that I may be needed to run grain cart because they are one man short. If you remember, the day Ben was born, we also lost our fall customer and dear friend, Russell. Apparently, his son-in-laws have it under control better than they expected before the harvest actually got started because I’ve not been asked. Russell would be very proud of them! However, I was sort of hoping I would finally be involved but with this cold snap…maybe not so much.
So, while Jim has been doing the fall harvest, I’ve been the one left at home doing what needs to be done here. Until the past two years, a lot of my time has been involved with the girls’ schedules. Not so much anymore. So, the days tend to get long. I have been able to unload and clean the inside and outside of the trailer house with very little interruption. I have all but one small flower garden to clean out before the snow flies and I still have the house to thoroughly clean of cobwebs. Jim usually leaves the house about 7:30 am and most nights doesn’t get home until 9:30. Long days – much like the wheat harvest.
I’ve had a couple of fun outings with Eli and Nora. It’s probably a good thing they don’t live any closer than they do. We may not get anything done…ever!
Our first outing was a spur of the moment occurrence. It was one of those beautiful Fall days where it didn’t even feel like Fall. It was one of those “let’s make her think it’s going to be summer forever” type of days.
Whenever we go anywhere, we have to have Jamie put the car seats in the van. I almost hate to suggest going anywhere simply because I know just how much work it is to transfer those seats from one vehicle to the other. It’s not like it was when my girls were little. Holy cow! So simple back then (and they survived)!!! Improvements usually mean more work. Anyways, I headed over to the H’s house and had Jamie install these pieces of engineering genius in the van. Jamie had their bag filled with snacks, jackets and anything and everything we could possibly need. I’ll have to give that girl credit…she’s prepared!
Once loaded, I decided we needed to head towards the walking bridge (that used to be a railroad bridge) that goes over the Platte River. You can walk from one shore of the river to the next. I will have to confess, though, I worried about just letting the kids head out on their own at first. But, once I surveyed the amount of space between the fence and the cement bridge, there was no way a body could just fall through it and land in the river. So, they were OFF!
It was about here where I was making sure a little body couldn’t just slip through any sort of opening. Even though I knew they couldn’t, I couldn’t convince the uneasy feelings I had of that while watching them stand there.