Our new family of 6!
Randi Beckley – Beckley Harvesting
We are officially done with fall harvest! It seemed to drag endlessly on, but we have finally come to the end of the season.
Summer harvest is the season of travel trailers, of heat waves, of blown tires and casseroles for seven. It’s the season of isolation with small children in a small camper, the season of bringing ice cream to sweaty men in the fields, the season of listening to the same Disney DVD on repeat in the van on moving days. Summer is the season of squeezing your whole family into the combine all through the hot afternoon to spend time with Daddy, watching the sun set over a perfectly flat horizon of golden wheat, and this season is beautiful.
Fall harvest is the season of the real house, the home town, the giant roasters of food for two dozen hungry men. It’s the season of being home, but of being a single mom while your husband works until midnight bringing in the corn. It’s the season of taking kids to school, taking parts to the shop, taking food to the field and taking it all in stride. Fall is the season of squeezing the whole family into the combine in the evenings to see Daddy while waiting on truckers to get their supper, watching the corn tumble into heavy golden piles in the grain cart. It’s the season of watching the stars come out as you drive home from the field after supper, and this season is beautiful.
Spending time with Daddy in the combine.
Jake and Josh with Grandma Beckley, who started Beckley Harvesting back in 1955.
Four generations of Beckley men (from right to left): Jake, Chet (Jake’s dad), Jack, and Grandpa Beckley, who started Beckley Harvesting, and who passed away last month.
Trick or treating
First grade Thanksgiving feast.
Now comes the season of winter. This is the season of goodbyes, of hired men returning to their homes, the season of washing seven combines, five tractors, five grain carts, and thirteen trucks and trailers. It’s the season of cooking for my kids, of driving to school in the dark, of zipping up coats and going to Grandma’s instead of going to the field. Winter is the season of squeezing the whole family onto the couch to watch a movie because Daddy comes home every evening at five, and watching the golden Christmas lights flicker and dance off the window, and this season is beautiful. This season is my favorite.
Decorating the Christmas tree.
Jack looking at the Christmas lights.
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".
