One day? I guess one is better than none 🙂
Because I don’t have any of my chillun’s to do anything with, or make me breakfast in bed or even pick a dandelion, I thought I’d sit down here and share with you a few thoughts…and my flowers.
Tag Archives: memories
And Then…It Rained
We made it to Burkburnett!
As we were driving through Snyder, Oklahoma and further south into Frederick, I started feeling like we were the last ones to the party. I couldn’t believe the amount of wheat that had already been cut since we had been down just a week earlier. When we were through this area a week ago, we saw four combines running and wheat that looked like it should be cut. The harvesters began their exodus from all points of the Midwest with one thing in mind – cut wheat. And that’s what they did while we were still trying to get a truck repaired and a trailer house packed. Oh well…we did the best we could.
So, after all that work we did to get here, guess what it did last night – it rained. (Hurry up and wait – the harvester’s motto) Our first day of harvest 2012 and it starts as a rain day. Frustrating? Yes but, on the other hand, it gives us a day or two to take a deep breath, get settled and then gear up to the working stage. Those who busted their butts to get here and then had to start right away needed a break, too.  It’s always nice to get to a place a day or two BEFORE having to start cutting – not the same day. So, if I’m responsible for their break – so be it. They needed one!
First Day “On The Road Again” – 2012
We got started just a little later than Jim thought we might today. Tieing up loose ends takes longer than you might think – especially when you know the two pieces going first won’t have a service truck full of tools following them. Jim does a good job of knowing what tools he “might” need on the road and usually, if we need something, he’s got it. It certainly would be nice to have the full inventory to choose from, should the need arise. But, that’s how we’ve done it most of our years of being on the road.
OH HAPPY DAY!
The title of this post will only mean something to Jenna and the rest of my family. 🙂 However, we certainly HAVE celebrated a couple very happy days recently. I will attempt to keep the number of words to a minimum because I’m sure I could get long-winded. The number of pictures I’d l ike to share will make this posting long enough.
On Saturday, April 21, Taylor went to her very first prom.
She had ordered her dress online – in plenty of time – on Thanksgiving. When she received it, it was way too big. I couldn’t send it back to the “store” as it was created in China. So, the next thing we had to do was take it in. It was a job that seemed rather overwhelming to me but I was willing to accept the challenge. I had questions, though, how to make it happen and called upon a neighbor who had done dresses like this in the past for advice. Taylor and I went to Judeen’s house for help. Judeen, bless her heart, just took over the job. I think she knew it was going to be something I really didn’t want to tackle! And, I’m so thankful for her and what she did. You would never have known that dress was taken apart and re-sewn. THANK YOU, JUDEEN – you are a miracle worker!
The times…they are a changing!
The other morning, the Nesquik container was left sitting on the counter. This was a familiar sight every other week at one time in this household. Now, not so much. As a matter of fact, I had almost forgotten that it ever got refilled…that’s how long its been. This family is full of Quik fans. Nesquik used to come out of the cupboard every single day for someone’s daily drink of choice. Unfortunately, those days have disappeared. Funny how something that once was so familiar and constant just quietly disappeared. A sign of the times – the family unit, as we know it, is changing. I miss those old days!
The Storm of the Century
Yes, that was the way they were describing the storms that were moving into Eastern Nebraska on Saturday night…”The Storm of the Century”.
This particular tornado watch was being referred to as a PDS watch. Meteorologists define a PDS watch as follows:
“When the threat for damage caused by severe convection is unusually high, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) enhances the wording of its convective watch product with the following statement: THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION Such watches are known as “PDS” watches. PDS tornado (TOR) watches are issued when the forecaster has high confidence that multiple strong (F2-F3 on the Fujita Scale) or violent tornadoes (F4-F5 on the Fujita Scale) will occur in the watch area. PDS TOR watches are rare; of 3058 TOR watches issued during the period 1996-2005, only 7% (216) were PDS watches, When compared with regular TOR watches, PDS TOR watches should ideally be associated with a greater risk of strong or violent tornadoes.”
Chocolate Bunnies, Colored Eggs and Hotdogs
The day actually started the night before.
Brooklyn and Jillian came to our house to color eggs with the girls – minus Jamie and Curt – on Easter Eve. Once again…a tradition that started a LONG time ago! I remember sitting in my Harvest Grandma’s little kitchen (which actually seemed REALLY big as a little girl) coloring Easter eggs with her. I have a picture of the two of us somewhere and would love to find it. The girls try to make each egg different from the others by using crayons, rubber bands and great imaginations. The artistic abilities come out in full force. Sometimes, the artistry is so good that it’s hard for me to even throw those eggs away after they’ve been sitting out for days (and beginning to smell). By the time all five dozen eggs were colored, we had multi colored, polka-dotted, a bumble bee, a Mocking Jay (Hunger Games), a cross, and many, many more.
Spring? or Summer?
It’s 2 degrees short of being HOT today in Eastern NE. The past three days the temp has reached at or near 90 degrees. Although I am loving this heat, the flowers that I have waited for a year to return are not. When it’s spring, the flowers like the cool weather so much better. With the past three days of heat and wind, the flowers are suffering. The crabapple trees, cherry tree, apple tree and the redbuds are nearly done gracing us with their beauty. There’s been previous years where the flowers last quite some time before drying up and blowing away.
 A few of my most favorite flowers are beginning to “pop” – the iris. The miniature guys are first to show their beauty and the intermediate are beginning to sprout their bloom stocks.
NOT “just a dog”
Today marks a sad day for me and the rest of the Zeorian’s – the first anniversary of the death of the very BEST dog in the whole wide world and the 7th member of our family. I STILL look for you when I go outside to hang up clothes, or in the garden or just walking to the post office. I miss you like crazy, Jordan, and think about you all the time!
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Dr. Seuss (thanks Matt!)
Boredom produces old harvest picture gallery
Grandpa & Grandma Hancock (not sure of the date)
I finished getting my numbers together for the tax man. It was too early to go to bed, I didn’t want to clean my house (yet), and it was too early to pack for the US Custom Harvesters convention. So…now what? Hmmm, let’s go through this “old memory” drawer. The “old memory” drawer holds little keepsakes my Grandma gave me before she passed away. I found some loose old pictures and decided it would be fun to go through them. These were pictures she had saved in a wooden cigar box. When I started looking, it made the ‘ole tears start. The first few I saw were of Grandma as a young woman. She did so many things and went so many places! I am in awe of all she did. She was definitely not scared to go on her own. She was 19 in the following pictures. She took a train by herself to California to stay with her Uncle in San Diego. While there, she visited Tijuana, Old Mexico. This was in 1938
 Now I know where my love for fishing came from.
 Then I started seeing old harvest pictures and decided I needed to share.
It was in this combine and in the corn field that I remember standing in the cab with Grandpa and “helping”. I was little enough I would take a nap on the ledge behind the seat.
Notice who’s “helping” on the header? Yep, that’s me. 🙂
And this very skinny young man is the guy I later married.
Me and Grandma posing for a newspaper article while in Lodgepole, NE. She looks a whole lot more excited about doing it than I do!
In 1989, Jamie, Jenna and I visited the harvesters in Lodgepole, NE. Jamie would have been 3 and Jenna 16 mos.
Our first year on the road as Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking. 1990 – Lodgepole, NE
Jenna helping her Daddy.
Another yearly event is about to come and go. The US Custom Harvesters convention is next week. As I’ve said before, our family counts down events ’til harvest rather than months and days. So, we’re nearly through them all. After we’ve celebrated Jenna’s birthday, the next thing to do will be pack the trailer to get ready to head south. When the convention is here, harvest is right around the corner! Are you ready to follow the adventure?