Things I Learned During Harvest

It is OVER! Seven days of cutting wheat and they got it all in, right before the rain hit. I can honestly say this was the most stressful harvest I have experienced, but it is all behind us now. Here are some things I learned this week.

• Keeping a child OUT of the wheat field is much harder than finding time to take him there to experience it. Add in one brother and five cousins who continually want to go to the field, and the task is even more difficult.
• Lollipops from the Co-op are better than any you can buy in the store.
• A combine broken down from 4:00 p.m. to midnight can actually be a bonding experience for a father, son, son-in-law, and grandson.
• Mosquitoes have no respect for bug repellent.
• God was sharing His great sense of humor when he designed green beans to be ready at the exact same time as the wheat.
• Sixteen rows of green beans will feed a family of six, a family of four, and a family of two for an entire year.
• It takes approximately four hours for one person to pick 16 rows of beans.
• It is very painful if you miss a spot when applying sunscreen.
• You can actually get a blister on your thumb if you stem enough beans.
• Snakes like the garden.
• I still don't like snakes.
• Swimming lessons during harvest isn't such a great idea.
• Storms on the first day of swimming lessons is actually a good thing. It makes every day after that look so much better than the first day.
• My child is capable of taking swimming lessons without crying. He was actually sad when they were over. And he acquired enough "skill" to pass level 1.
• We have established a new definition of exhausted at this house. It involves much whining and crying. In the kids, too.