by Deanna
Republic County WIFE

September 2001

The day for my September 1 diary dawns early.  We have two grandchildren visiting. About 5 a.m. Austin, who’s 10 months old, decided he’d like a bottle before settling down for another couple hours sleep.  The granddaughter, Alyssa, is still sleeping.  I glance out at the day and decide it’s early for me, too.

When the day begins a couple hours later, we begin with thanks for the day and the joy of grandchildren.  We don’t often take time for a leisurely breakfast, but sharing our meal with them is a special time.  Then it’s time to feed the cats who wait outside the back door.  If we wait longer than usual, they come up on the deck railing where they can look into the kitchen window to remind us they’re waiting for THEIR breakfast, too. 

This year has blessed our farm with more than our share of kittens.  We had three families in varying sizes.  The oldest are about as big as their mother now.  We know that she’s had a second family, and today we’ll spend some time looking for them.  Family #3, the smallest of the early kittens, has been a special joy for the grandchildren this summer.  When Alyssa goes out with Grandpa and the cat food, they’re greeted by three speeding streaks—tails raised in greeting!

The first task of every day is to check cattle.  Today Grandpa Dean will do that on his way to help Alyssa and Austin’s parents.  They’re building an addition to the older home they’re working on.  Alyssa will help me watch Austin and we’ll go to check the new addition later today, when I take them home.  I’ll be glad for the chance to see the other grandkids as well.  Alex and Allison stayed at with their folks this time.

This day will be different from most days on our farm.  First—it’s a Saturday, but our schedule today is different than usual.  Alyssa, Austin and I will enjoy some videos.  Austin loves music and bounces in time to the Bible verses set to music.  They are songs that Alyssa knows by heart.  While they’re watching the video, I clear the kitchen.  I’d taken cuttings of some of the house plants and put them in water to root.  They’re ready to go into a flower-pot with soil so I can share them. 

Alyssa began kindergarten this year, so she’s quite a helper.  Floors need to be vacuumed, so I shorten the wand and she helps with that while Austin crawls over the hose.  Then we go outside.  Austin is almost ready to walk, but he’s just taking about one step between things, so he’s in the stroller.  Alyssa hops on the bike for a short ride down the drive to get the mail. 

On most farms we have a mail box at the end of the driveway.  Our mail is delivered each morning by a postman who drives many miles each day on his route.  If we have letters to send, we put those into the box and raise a little red flag on the side.  Then he knows there’s letters to pick up.  If he had no mail to bring us, and the flag weren’t raised, he’d go on by our box.  However, it’s a very rare day when he doesn’t have something to deliver. 

What excitement…before I take Alyssa and Austin home to inspect the house-building progress, we need to feed the farm cats.  Alyssa’s sharp eyes spot the mother cat going around the corner after she finishes her evening meal.  She follows the mother cat’s “calling” meow in time to see kittens come spilling out of the pile of irrigation pipe beside the machine shed.  Soft and fluffy, and of every color, we count six little ones who are about a month old.  Surprisingly they’re not frightened, so we are able to look at each one and decide on names for some.  These six are added to the nine of varying ages from this summer’s three litters.  What bounty!  Hope they’ll all be good hunters when mice try to move into the outbuildings on the farm come winter!

While watching the kittens and the two youngsters, I answer a phone call from a man in California who does custom farming.  He’d seen a report of the annual meeting of Kansas Women Involved in Farm Economics.  I gave a report on ethanol and bio-diesel.  He’s wondering about the progress for bio-fuels and their potential for profitability for farmers.  Our conversation is brief and will continue with my sending information to him.  He’d like to come back to his parents’ farm, but the economics surrounding present day farming and ranching make it hard to do.

Before I end the diary, I’ll tell you a little about what we’ve been doing last week and will do the coming week.  That will give you an idea of what we might have been doing on our farm if house-building hadn’t been in today’s plan. 

Machinery is being checked over for all the fall jobs that are ahead.  Checking the machinery now should keep it from breaking down while we’re doing the jobs.   

Ground is being prepared for wheat to be sowed.  We’ll use a tractor and drill as well as trailers to haul the seed to the field.  Augers put the wheat seed into the drill.  A truck with an auger will haul fertilizer.  We use dry fertilizer that is put on with the drill as the wheat is planted.  Fertilizer will be augered into a second compartment on the drill.  Fertilizer goes into the ground near the seed.  When the wheat plants begin to grow they can use it to grow strong.  That’s kind of like a good balanced diet would be for you and I.

Other machinery we’re checking includes combines for harvesting milo, corn, soybeans for fall harvest.  We have several different kinds of headers that will cut the different kinds of grain.  Then an auger pulls it into the machine to thresh out the grain.  Other augers move the grain into the combine bin. When that’s full, we’ll use a tractor and grain buggy to pick up the load from the combine out in the field.  The grain buggy empties into a truck.  The truck takes the grain to a bin on the farm or to a grain elevator in town. 

The crops growing in the field are changing to different colors.  Most of the milo heads are changing into shades of deep red, though some varieties ripen to their natural white or yellow.  The corn has been turning color as the ears have grown heavy and begun to hang down.  Dryland corn is drying and turning creamy tan in color.  Irrigated corn still has a trace of green, but will soon it be a light brown as well.  The irrigated soybeans still are at a stage of growth where they will have about one more sprinkling of water.  (The membrane inside the pod that holds the bean is still adhered to the bean.  That tells us the bean can still take up moisture from irrigation.)  Soybeans on the upland where there’s no irrigation have turned golden and brown.  With too little rain, the dryland crops won’t have as good a yield for this year.

Each time the seasons change, I think it’s my favorite time of year!  Fall is special with the contrasting colors as all of nature changes and prepares for winter.  Grasses in the pastures and on the roadsides are beginning to change color and will soon provide surprising beauty to enjoy.  Leaves on the trees will change colors and then most leaves will drop so the coming snows won’t be too heavy on the limbs when winter comes.