Finishing Harvest and Moving onto Fun!

 Cool, wet and foggy. Just the way it should be while hunting waterfowl in North Dakota. Each morning I awoke well before sunrise in eager anticipation of what the day might bring. I silently thank the Lord for gracing me with yet another season as I sit in the slough waiting for the sun to hit the horizon and the ducks to fly overhead on the first day of the season. 

I did not grow up in a hunting family. Well, my dad did go pheasant hunting once a year down in Iowa taking my sister Becky and brother Bob with him. I do not know how old I was when I was finally allowed to go, but I still remember those trips like it was yesterday. I had a great-aunt who lived outside of Buffalo Center, Iowa who we would go and visit. Aunt Effie. What I remember about her the most was her ill-fitting wigs and her TV.  I feel like she had the Lawrence Welk show on 24/7. I remember driving around with my dad looking for pheasants. I remember a motel in Forest City, Iowa we used to stay at, and I remember a nameless restaurant that had the best burgers in the world. I looked forward to that trip every year. Soon, my sister went to college, my brother too and it was just dad and me. Then Effie died and we never went back. But that was the beginning of the hunting bug for me. 

Opening morning

It was not until high school when Bob S and I met that I really got into duck hunting. Now 43 years later, I cannot remember a duck season that we have not hunted together. I am sure there is one, but I cannot think of it. This year was no different as we awaited sunrise a few yards apart along with Bob's lab Ember.  As the sun rose the ducks flew. We missed some easy shots, made some difficult ones but overall, just enjoyed being out, watching the birds, watching Ember doing what she was bred to do. Retrieve birds.  

Each morning and each evening we went out to see the sun rise and set. It did not matter how many birds we got; what matters is that we were out there. Most of our hunts were on sloughs or lakes. 

One morning we hunted in a harvested wheat field. You have to drive out well before sunrise to set up the decoys and blind by the lights of the truck. 

That is our blind in the upper right corner

Another foggy morning

A Pintail and a Redhead

On another hunt, Bob and I brought three-legged stools to sit on. Shooting from a sitting position is typically not a problem but on one occasion a bird was flying directly overhead as we both shot at it. After we were done shooting, the duck continued on its merry way, and I looked over at Bob who was on his back in the mud. Apparently, you should not lean back while shooting overhead on a three-legged stool!

On yet another hunt we were setting out decoys, the water was a little deeper than anticipated and we did not bring our waders. No fear, Bob just took off his pants and waded right in!

But the real star of the week was Ember. Watching the joy in her eyes and actions is worth getting up early and sitting in the wetness. She would often see the birds before us as her eyes follow them across the sky. On a couple of occasions, I swear she was looking at us in disgust when we missed an easy shot. 

The week was not all hunting however, we still had crops to get in! We got back into the field on Friday finishing the one field we were on. Then we moved to another field later on Friday and half the day Saturday after our morning hunt. 

Finally, back in my chariot!

Holly was nice enough to bring us supper a couple of days. Everything tastes good when you are out in the field, but her homemade pizza is to die for!

The moon was absolutely huge last week. I took a picture of this harvest moon from the tractor while actually harvesting!

Sunday afternoon found us finishing the last of the soybeans, getting done just as the sun was setting. The 2023 harvest is a wrap!

Here are a couple of pictures I took in the shop. This picture gives you an idea of how big the sprayer is. I think you could drive DeAnne's bug right under it!

Speaking of DeAnne, she and her sister Peggy stopped by and spent the night with Barb on their way back from Denver. No one got any pictures however. 

This next shot is of Farmer Bob's newest toy that he picked up on Wednesday. A 1931 Ford Model A Roadster! This little beauty is going to be his new parade vehicle. 

Nellie is continuing to improve. She can walk on her own but is still confined to her crate when she is not outside going to the bathroom. 

Back home in South Dakota, Kevin is not fairing as well. Last Saturday he and Barb were going on a trail ride organized by our friends Elizabeth and Alan. Kevin was to ride his horse Waylon while Barb was riding his other horse, Willie. Just as everyone was getting ready to head off on the ride, Waylon decided to pitch a fit, throwing Kevin. When Barb secured the horses and went to him, it was apparent that he had taken a pretty hard hit on his head. Those that know him may not be concerned as he is very hardheaded. But not as hard as we thought, he did not know where he was or how he got there. Barb would tell him, but he would immediately ask again and again. 

Since they were at a remote location, Barb played ambulance driver and got him to the ER in Custer where they performed x-rays and a CT scan. They were able to answer a question that many of us have wondered. Kevin does indeed have a brain. Barb says she thinks he may have had a brain transplant at some point as she heard the nurse mention something about having an Abby Normal brain, whoever she is. 

Poor Kevin

They released him a few hours later and Barb stayed with him until Cheryl drove 8 hours from Minnesota to take over nurse duties. Now, 6 days later, he is still recovering. Better, but not entirely recovered. He still has headaches, nausea and his body feeling like it was, well, bucked off a horse. 

Barb has been busy with other projects as well. She has been looking for a picture or wall covering to cover a service panel in the laundry room. She could not find anything the right size that she liked, so what did she do? She made something! 

Using some scrap wood and different color stains she made a cover that is not only the perfect size, but it also looks great. She has been up to a few other projects, but this is the only one she will share with me. Makes me more than a little nervous wondering what else she has been up to. 

I will find out in 4 days, as after 6 weeks of hard labor at Pen-Finken I am finally getting released to go home! But first, tomorrow is the opener of pheasant season. I hope to add a few of these tasty birds to our stories to help us through the winter!