Audra Zimmerman – Zimmerman Harvesting
Spring Break 2017
Since my last post, we have arrived back in Northwest Ohio. Andy and I have had quite an adventure the past 3 weeks.
The last week of February, Andy went on a mission trip with our church to Village of Hope Orphanage in Guatemala. Guatemala has closed adoptions and the children at Village of Hope suffer from AIDS and live in a family style setting with house parents. Andy, and the group of men that went, worked on welding together frames for solar panels for the orphanage.
After Guatemala, Andy flew to Denver to meet Allyssa, Alex, and me for a vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado (we drove to Colorado). Allyssa and Alex both helped us on harvest last year running grain cart. Allyssa is my cousin and Alex is my little brother. Both graduated from high school last May and they came on the harvest run with us. As part of their pay, because they are family, they got to spend their spring break this year in Breckenridge skiing with us.
After Breckenridge (and dropping Allyssa and Alex off in Denver for their flight home), Andy and I were headed to Holyoke, Colorado to visit with our harvesting friends, Ivan & Julie Wiebke.
Following the updates on the fires in Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, our next stop was to Cheyenne. Oklahoma to visit with Jason and Lindsey Orgain of Orgain Farms & Harvesting. We had met Jason and Lindsey last year during our harvest stop in McDonald, KS. Jason had posted that he was hauling hay to the victims of the fire from Oklahoma just across the state line into Texas. So, we loaded up for a trip to see and help Jason with some hauling for a day.
It was a real eye-opener for us Midwesterners…the fires were devastating . One of the delivery points we went to (to deliver the hay) was in a church yard. The entire yard and a car had burned but the house where the pastor lived was untouched. I can only say that God had a hand in saving that house!
This picture is of a controlled burn to help fight the fires in Oklahoma.
I was also amazed at what little news coverage these fires were getting on the national news. If you took those same fire acres and put them in Ohio, do you know how many millions (yes millions) of people would currently be without a home? It just amazes me the lack of sympathy and coverage the national news media has given this National disaster.
After our visit with the Orgain’s it was off to visit with our harvester friends, Morgan and Whitney Crabtree, Crabtree Farms & Harvesting, from Stratford, Texas. This was a quick visit over breakfast and then off to look at crops (which I call “Road Farming”) in South Central Texas.
The crops look good – they just need some rain. All of the wheat belt needs some rain, so we shall pray for rain for the victims of the fires, for the wheat crops, and a bountiful harvest this summer.
We arrived home this past Thursday (after an overnight at my cousin’s house in Kansas City, Missouri) and the best barbecue on earth, Jack Stacks. If you are ever in Kansas City, you must stop there!
Now. it’s time to get ready to start packing and finishing the last of equipment maintenance before heading to Texas next month.
1. Be ready to go at the drop of a hat...sometimes without a lunchbox.
2. Has removed the word impossible from her vocabulary!
3. Can hold a baby, take care of a toddler and drive a tractor or combine all at the same time.
4. Must be able to cook for a crew - large or small.
5. Must be able to read minds.
6. Must be able to banter with a parts man until he realizes you DO know what you're talking about.
7. Must be the entertainment director for those rainy days.
8. Be a wife, mom, friend, helper, cook, problem solver, taxi driver or extra crew hand at all times.
9. Can handle the call that makes you react, "You need what? When?" Dropping everything you're doing to make it happen.
10. At the end of the day say, "I really do love this life".
