September 2020

May30 by Nebraska Wheatie

Life happens and updating this blog gets pushed aside. So very close and yet still far enough away from the end of the year (2020). I am determined, though, to get this caught up before we head south again.

Yes, that time is rolling around way too fast. It appears the cool and wet weather has set the date back. The harvesters in Texas as STILL waiting to get rolling. Once the sun pops out and the wet stuff stops falling from the sky, I’m certain the combines will, once again, be going round and round – if they still do that. Thanks to GPS, it seems the round and round has been turned into back and forth, back and forth.

When September rolled around, we were done with cutting wheat. Remember…the last day of wheat harvest for us was on August 26th. Our typical routine after we finish in Montana is to take our time in cleaning everything up really well. The push to get to the next job is over and a better, more thorough job is possible and usually needed.

The trip back home is nearly 1,000 miles. And the Pete makes the trip four times. So, truck maintenance is also a must. By the time we finish what we do, it’s usually 10 days to two weeks past the final day of cutting before we make our way home with the first load.

Jamie and Curt are still here. They won’t actually leave until September 9. So, between doing what we have to do, we also tried to do some fun things with them while we were all together. Video, “Day 96”, gives a highlight of our time with the kids while they were in Jordan with us.

September 2 was one of the craziest days of the summer – and maybe one of the craziest of our lives.

The Jordan area was dry…very dry. And the winds were supposed to be extremely bad on this particular day. The morning of September 2, however, was fairly quiet. A fire was started by a rancher’s hired man north of town. And then the winds picked up. And then a spark led to what became a huge wildfire threatening the town of Jordan. The Huff Fire video is still the #1 viewed video of the 2020 wheat harvest with nearly 52,000 views.

We left Jordan with the first load headed home, home on September 10. (Video, “Day 99”)

In the following days, we arrived home (on September 12) and turned right around and headed back north again. We arrived back to Jordan on September 14. We spent the next day loading the combine and tying up some loose ends. On September 16, we left Jordan for the final time for the 2020 wheat harvest. This is NEVER easy to do. Never.

We arrived back home on September 18 and decided to park the trailer house at the Fairgrounds just until we could get back to “normal” again.

The videos to watch for the roadtrip home and final days of harvest are: Day 100, Day 101, Day 102, Day 103, Day 104, Day 105, Day 106, Day 107/Final Day of our Journey End of Journey Narrative, Trying to Find the Normal and It’s Empty!

What’s next? Fall harvest!

*Colten & Taylor left Montana and headed for Yellowstone National Park.*

Jamie and Angie used to play together on this very same playground when the girls used to attend school here. The girls were lucky to get to attend school here while we were cutting wheat. They would usually go to school here for a couple of weeks to a month before we would head home.

Now their kids play together on the same playground. 🙂

*Who could have ever guessed later this afternoon, we would be leaving our trailer houses not knowing if we’d be back again or not.*

*I remember stepping out of the trailer and seeing the smoke thinking, “Boy, I sure hope that stays east of town!”*

*This is beginning to look a little more intense.*

*The fire was close enough to the equipment, we decided to move the combine further west of town.*

*Jamie and I walked over to the Catholic Church and volunteered to make sandwiches for the firefighters.*

*Jim drove The Beast in the Trump parade on September 4th.*

*Gathering with friends after the parade for supper.*

*Answer to prayers! We received over an inch of rain today (September* 7th).

Gathering at Ryan and Randi’s house for a final night together before Jamie and Curt headed for Cody, Wyoming.

*Getting Frank and Pete ready to make the first load home.*

*I was attempting to get a picture of the Broadus sign. Ha!*

*We spent the first night on the road at the Belle Fourche Sale Barn.*

*Before leaving Miles City and making our way back to Jordan, we stopped at the **Airport In**n* for lunch. All these years and I had never been here before. What a view from on top of this hill!

Henry. Henry was purchased brand new by my grandpa. We purchased it from him when we were beginning this adventure. And, now, Henry is retiring in Montana.

*Taking the time for a visit just one more time.*

The Belle Fourche Sales Barn. The smoke from the wildfires blocked the sun and created a big red ball in the sky.

*Still seeing the wildfire smoke in Nebraska.*

*Second – and final night on the road for the 2020 harvest – was spent in O’Neill, Nebraska.*

*The elevator on the horizon is home, home – Manley. We parked temporarily parked everything at the fairgrounds until we figured out what the heck we were doing first.*

*Callie came to the trailer house one day and hung out with me and Layne.*

August 2020

May11 by Nebraska Wheatie

August 1st has us still in Hardin, Montana…but not for long.

We finished the job on the 3rd. Started the cleanup process the very next day and headed to Jordan with the first load on the 5th. Although the jaunt to Jordan isn’t nearly as long as some of the others, it still takes us time to complete.

The first move included the Pete and the “job” trailer and Frank and the header trailer. Once we arrived in Jordan, we parked Frank and unhooked the “job” trailer from Pete. I jumped in the passenger seat of Pete and we headed back towards Hardin.

Once we arrived back in Hardin, the combine was loaded. Ready to head back to Jordan the very next morning. The next morning, the “cottage on wheels” was made road-ready and we, once again, hit the road.

Refer to our YouTube channel to actually watch these days – Days 58 through 64 will show you our progress of finishing Hardin and making the move to Jordan.

Days 65 (August 8) through 88 finish out the month of August. And our days in the wheat field. The weather cooperated this year. What can sometimes take an entire month to finish (due to weather) was done in 19 days.

We were able to attend a wedding in Miles City on the 29th of August with Taylor’s family and also Jamie’s family. When the festivities were over, Taylor and Colten headed for Yellowstone and Jamie and Curt headed to Jordan.

Celebrating our final night in Hardin with good friends!

Spent the night in Miles City at the parking lot of the Sale Barn. Made it to Jordan easily and headed back to Hardin again.

Job #1 began right away the very next day after arriving in Jordan. YouTube videos – Days 65 through Day 71

We moved from job #1 to job #2 on day 71. We finished this job four days later (day 75).

The final job we had lined up for Jordan began on day 76 and finished one week later (day 83).

When ya just need to have a chat with the one you meet on the road.

The final clean up of the 2020 wheat harvest.

August 27 – Taylor and Colten surprised us with their presence in Jordan. We knew they were coming for the wedding but had no idea they would make the additional 85 mile jaunt north to Jordan. Fun evening!!

The traditional picture taken in Broadus, Montana.

After the wedding, Taylor and Colten took off one way and Jamie and Curt headed for Jordan. They stayed with us until September 9. I know they were hoping we would still be in the field when they made their plans. But that wasn’t how the plan ended up playing out.

Pictures from home:

July 2020

Apr8 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.

Continue reading →

Major Catch-up Required!

Apr6 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.

Continue reading →

“go time”

Jun10 by Nebraska Wheatie

It’s 11:30 p.m. The night before “go time”.

The past few days have felt like they’ve been both a year long and just an hour long. I don’t know if you can understand what I mean…but I bet you can.

The first load to Kansas went about as well as it could have. Except for the heat. And except for the lack of air conditioning. Frank doesn’t have air. We’ve tried to make it work but it just can’t hold the gas. We didn’t expect the car and the Pete to give us issues. But they did. However, I’m pleased to tell you Jim got both of them fixed and they’re cooling down quite nicely now. Thank goodness!

*First load getting ready to head south.*

*Pete and the “job” trailer waiting patiently.*

*The header needed some warranty work done on it so we just left it at the dealership. We stopped and picked it up as we were headed south with the first load.*

Ahhhhhh….the sweet, sweet smell of wheat country!

Left Frank and the Pete at our farmer’s yard near Chase. The mosquitoes were HORRIBLE! Once we got everything parked for the night, we jumped in the car and headed for Great Bend for the night. The next morning we headed for Medicine Lodge.

*A memory. Grandma insisted I go through this house with her in 1974. I will be going through it again – if we have a rain day. I’m SURE I’ll appreciate it much more the second go-round!*

*Main Street of Sharon, Kansas. Anyone know who in the entertainment industry grew up near Sharon?*

*Back to the farmer’s yard. We parked the car, jumped in the Pete and headed northward.*

*So, I took over and drove for about an hour. (Don’t worry, we weren’t moving when I took these pictures.)*

*The best part of a very hot 100 degree day – dusk.*

We made it back home, home Saturday evening about 10:00. The next morning began more packing and getting things ready to be gone for the next several months.

When I say “things ready”, I mean like the yard mowed, tree limbs trimmed, a few weeds pulled (a dumb action, really), Cottage on Wheels packed, house cleaned, combine loaded, last minute items thrown in wherever they can go, etc. etc. It always feels like such an overwhelming amount of work that needs to be done. But, somehow it all manages to get done. And things start falling together as they should. And then it’s time to take off.

That’s where we are right now. It’s time to do those last minute things that need to be done and then the dreadful goodbyes said and down the highway we will head, once again.

All the while we have been working at getting to the point we are, Mother Nature decided to crank up the heat a little on all of us. We thought we could make it through the few days we had here without putting the window air in the house. Bad decision. The days and nights of no relief from the heat seemed to wear on us way more than we imagined. Maybe it has something to do with being one year older, too. Maybe?

Yes, another nap. This time he told me, “I just need a little nap and it’s cool down here on the floor”. We really should have put the air conditioner in the window! Yep, that’s his shoe he’s using for a pillow.

*It was a beautiful morning to load the combine!*

Taylor and Layne came over to hang out with me this afternoon. After I emptied the refrigerator, I left the doors open so it could defrost and be cleaned. Taylor sat there to cool off because, yes, it was that hot in the house!

We had a storm roll through this evening which dropped the temperature 25 degrees in about ten minutes. The cooler air never felt so good. The wind blew like crazy and the rain came down in sheets. We’ll be sleeping in the trailer house tonight as the bed in the house has been stripped and washed. And we’ll be taking our last “real” shower for quite some time.

The worst part of all of this is having to say our goodbyes.

It never gets any easier!

Ever.

it’s starting to get real

Jun4 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?

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.

social distancing? self-isolation? not so much

May23 by Nebraska Wheatie

Our fourteen day quarantine is now going on 70+ days. Seventy some days ago, our lives changed. Although I don’t want to add the word “forever”, I’m afraid that’s what has happened.

I’m certain I’m not the only one who just gets ANGRY when you allow your brain to think about what we had and what we have to look forward to. I just don’t understand how we’ve allowed this virus to change every aspect of our lives. I just don’t.

Not much has changed in our world. We don’t spend much time in the city anyways – except church, groceries and other needed items. I’ve always been one to purchase enough groceries to get us through a week or two so I didn’t have to try to invent the wheel.

We, as a family, have been back and forth with the social distancing. When this “thing” was brand new, we attempted to keep our distance. And then we decided this was just stupid.

Here’s my thoughts as far as this “deadly” virus goes and how it pertains to me. I really don’t care if I get it or not. If I get it, I get it. If I get it and die…so be it. I’m going to die one day anyways. However, I don’t want to live my life in such a way that I seclude myself from my kids and grandkids. They wanted to “protect” us at the beginning and Jim and I put the kabosh on that! I cannot live my life to the fullest and be scared of dying. Period.

So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Fear. One of the enemy’s most popular weapons that he uses against us. Worry, anxiety, fear…can overwhelm us with a thick shadow of darkness, controlling our every move and decision.

I’m not going to let this virus change the way I live.

We’re currently getting ready to head south for the 2020 wheat harvest. Jim said his goal is to be ready to leave on June 1. However, I’ve been married to him long enough to know that when he sets a date, it will change (about four times). So, I’m going to guess we’ll be heading south with the final load about June 8th.

We have an opportunity to start a little farther south this year than we have in the past – thanks to some great harvest friends! If all goes as planned, our first job of the season will be around Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Funny…this is the same area my grandparents would have gone to so many years ago. It’ll be fun to be back in the same area which I would have been in the very first time I went on harvest in 1974.

I have a feeling things could look/be a whole lot more interesting on the road due to the guidelines set in place. I am so thankful I don’t have a crew of about 15 men to try to figure out how I’m going to feed when the stores have so many limitations in place. The job NEEDS to be done – harvest waits for no one.

While we’re still hanging out here at home, I’ll keep doing what life at home looks like. That would be hanging out with the kids and grandkids as much as I can. Watching my flowers grow. And sew.

Until next time…