Kylee DeBock / DeBock Harvesting
A whole month of harvest has passed!
We got to Altus the end of May and thought we’d only be here a few weeks. But that was not the case. It took us almost a month; we ended up finishing on June 25th.
Rewind a little.
Dillon had a safe trip home from North Dakota and we had a timely rain in Altus so we just drove home to meet him on June 3rd. The rains kept coming that night so we stayed home and worked around our house before heading back to Altus.
Little did we know, that was just the beginning of the rain.
I can say, with certainty, that we only worked four full days. The rest were half days or even less. Some days, we did not start cutting until the early evening hours. Since we had so many rain delays or late starts, we made the best of it.
There were several fun outings that we found to do to fill our time.
One afternoon was spent at the local pool. It had two big slides as well as a tall and short diving board. Not often do our kids get to do a “REAL” summer activity so they were pretty excited to spend the whole afternoon at the swimming pool.
That same evening, we found a delicious steakhouse in town that had a game room. So, we spent the evening playing air hockey, race car driving, pool, pinball and a few other fun games.
On another occasion, we took a day-trip to the Quartz Mountain State Park. We hiked, played Putt Putt Golf and drove go-carts.
I am glad we took this drive as the scenery was very beautiful and it was a great way to get in some fresh air all while enjoying each other’s company.
There were a few days we caught up on combine repairs and duties at the camper, all while hoping it would dry out. When it didn’t, on two separate occasions, we ended up at the movie theater.
We also took a drive down to Texas to see Dillon’s youngest brother, Casey, and his family. We had only planned on it being a day-trip but after supper the weather really started to change.
There was a bad tornado which ripped through the town of Matador which is only 15 miles from Casey’s home. So, we ended up in the basement for a little while waiting for that to pass and decided we best spend the night.
Luckily, Casey’s home did not receive any damage but the Matador community could use prayers! There were lots of homes and businesses completely destroyed. Worst of all, there were people who lost their lives. Be in prayer for the loved ones left behind.
In between all those fun outings, we did cut some pretty good wheat considering the drought conditions. I will say, Southern Oklahoma was in better shape then Northwest Oklahoma (where we live).
The farm had fields ranging from nine bushels to the acre to fifty. The farm average was in the mid-thirties. We were pleasantly surprised with the yields; as was the farmer!
Northwest Oklahoma was hit really hard this year with very little rainfall. For the first time in twenty years, we will not be harvesting one acre in Woodward County. We did have some small jobs, but ended up giving them away because we were not able to get to them with all the rain in Altus.
Once we finished in Altus and moved home, the harvest-worthy fields were already cut. So we just brought all our equipment back home to wait for our job in Kansas to get ready. Our Kansas farmer said he thought it might be ready after the Fourth of July.
For the time being, we will get some things done around our house and work on equipment (because that NEVER ends). We’ll also get to enjoy some fun Fourth of July activities with friends before we hit the road again!
God Bless,
Kylee DeBock
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalms 27:14
