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May 18 – We leave from Vernon, Texas this morning and make it to Throckmorton, Texas by 9:30 a.m.  Now it is time to park the trailer houses and hook up the electricity, water, sewer, telephone, and cable TV.  Carl directs someone to put up the two-way radio antenna so Karen will have a base station to communicate with him and all the combine operators and truck drivers when needed.  Lunch is in the local café.  Of course, a lot of townspeople know us so they come by to welcome us and inquire about the forecast for this year’s harvest.  It has been very dry in this area so the acres and, of course, the yield will be down in comparison to the last few years.  Carl goes out to look at the fields the customers think will be the first to cut so he can judge them for himself.  The hired help unload the combines from the trailers and line up things so as not to get anything run into by another vehicle.  Vic makes sure everything is being done safely and in order.  Carl comes back to report on what he has found for field conditions.  Looks like we will start to harvest the wheat tomorrow.  Carl checks with the elevator to see if they will take a sample load and what moisture they need it to be.  Karen and Sandy have supper fixed and the house trailers straightened out after the move.

May 19 – Breakfast is pancakes and sausage with coffee, juice or milk.  Everyone is anxious to start the day but clouds are coming and before noon, it is raining.  So far this year, this area has been without enough rain and one wonders why the rain is here now.  But, no one really complains much today.  Lunch is sandwiches and salads with a dessert.  The afternoon is spent looking around the elevator and getting to know how to drive onto the scales and which way to go to dump the load of wheat.  Supper is at the café again.

May 20 – Breakfast is scrambled eggs and bacon, with coffee, juice or milk, or a choice of cereal.  It did not rain very much so the combines are headed to a field of wheat south of town.  Carl is in the lead with the service truck and warning lights, with the combines and trucks following.  Vic takes the first sample to see if it is dry enough to continue to harvest.  One of the trucks takes the sample to the elevator while everyone waits to hear the outcome.  “Mobile #3 to Carl,” we hear over the two-way radio.  “Carl … go ahead Mobile #3.  What is the moisture?”  “The moisture is 14% and the elevator man says to go ahead and cut a whole load to test.”  “Good enough guys, let’s get to cutting!”  As the day goes on, the heat goes up and the moisture in the grain goes down so this is a good first day.  Lunch is brought to the field – sloppy joes, tater tots, salad and cookies are cooked and served by Karen and Sandy.  Supper is brought to the field, too – cube steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable, bread and butter, and chocolate cake for dessert.  This is not a long day as the moisture comes up in the grain by 9:00 p.m.   Everyone is in the trailer court and starting to take showers and clean up by 10:00 p.m.

May 21 – Fried eggs with sausage links, toast, coffee, juice or milk for breakfast today.  Everyone needs a good start for the day even if they only have juice and toast.  The forecast on the Weather Channel is for it to get hot the next couple of days.  Karen is sure glad her trailer has good air-conditioning.   Hamburger sandwiches for lunch, with chips, pork and beans and the rest of the chocolate cake.  The combines started cutting for the day by 11:00 a.m.  Everyone is starting to get into the routine as to what needs to be done each morning for servicing of the machines and trucks.  The truck drivers are responsible for keeping track of each load hauled – which field it came from, where they hauled it to, and the bushels on that load.  They have a record page to be handed in each night, along with the elevator scale tickets.  Karen then enters all this information on the computer in each farmer’s ledger page.  This keeps track of all the fields and lets the farmer know the yield per acre and where the grain is stored.

May 22 – Pancakes and bacon are on the table when the guys come in for breakfast.  Today is supposed to be a hot one so everyone is making sure to fill their water jugs with extra ice.  They get started cutting early as there is no dew and the wind is blowing from the south.  Today, it is packed lunches as the combines and trucks are in different areas of the county.  Melvin has arrived with his combine and truck so he takes two combines and two trucks to the east of town while Carl has two combines and three trucks to the south of town.  Both are hauling the grain to the same elevator so the truck drivers will need to watch their tickets to be sure the correct farmer’s name is on each ticket.  Supper is BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes, and baked beans with cherry pie for dessert.

May 23 – Sausage and egg breakfast casserole or a choice of cereal is the menu for breakfast.  Yesterday, the temperature reached 100 degrees and it’s forecast to be higher today.  Sandy and Karen get the laundry done fast today as it is not taking long for the clothes to dry on the clothesline.  Every day, there are always four to five loads of laundry to do.  Thanks goodness there is a large washer and dryer in the “bunker” (bunk trailer).  Packed lunches again today.  By suppertime, the machines are running in the same field so supper goes faster than last night.  Karen and Sandy take pork cutlets with easy scalloped potatoes, lettuce salad and a cool lemon cake for dessert to the field.  It reached 110 degrees today!  Hope it’s cooler tomorrow.

May 24 – The combines are running early again this morning.  “Wash the windows, check the oil, kick the tires, and let’s get to cutting,” are Carl’s words for this morning’s routine.  The yields here in this area have not been very good.  Some of the acres will not even be harvested as it is not worth the time or money spent because what the grain can be sold for would not cover the harvesting expense.  The market price of grain is low – volume is the only thing to help the farmer come out on top.  To the average consumer, the bread price is high and they think the farmer is getting rich.  Did you know that there is only about four to five cents worth of wheat used in making a loaf of bread?  The rest of the cost is labor, packaging, transportation and advertising.  Today we serve spaghetti, jello salad, garlic bread, and watermelon for dessert.  Supper is roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and banana pudding.

May 25-31