Harvest

Harvest is in full swing around here with the temperature rising over 100 most days this week. Aubrey has been so flexible this week and just going with the flow, thankfully. It has been entirely too hot to have her with me all day so luckily Grandma Jeanie has been around to keep Aubrey when it heats up. So what is farming like when you're trying to do it with your special needs child? Here's how Wednesday went.... Make sure she eats a little more for breakfast because it could be pushing noon before I can get her lunch, pack her bag of water, bibs, change of clothes, wipes and food, put a towel down in the seat of the grain truck because it's just dirty, put her booster seat in the middle right next to me, gas the truck up even though it still has half a tank because breaking down when it's nearly 100 is just not an option, load her up and head to town, text the PT to let her know I'll be a little late because the loaded down truck is taking its sweet time climbing those hills on the way up, finally make it to town and rush Aubrey into swim, go to the elevator while she's working with PT to unload the truck, fret about the man in front of me who seems to be taking forever unloading his truck, get in the elevator and get unloaded, grab my ticket and rush back to pick Aubrey up, get her out of the pool and dressed again, discuss the upcoming IEP meeting with the PT, walk down to the hospital cafeteria so that I can have a place to sit and feed her lunch, get back in the grain truck and head home. By that time she needs a short little nap. Just lay in my lab and go to sleep until we get home. Call Jeanie and see if Aubrey can come over for a bit. Grab a sandwich and head out to the combine. Watch the sunset driving in circles out in the field. Give Aubrey a big hug and tell her that I love her and that I appreciate her being so good for me. 

So why do it at all? Obviously I didn't grow up on a farm so I'm just learning how it all works. I want to know absolutely without a doubt that this is something I can do before we jump into it all the way. Also, as my father in law grows older, I want to help him in any way possible. I want him to trust me with the machinery and equipment he has worked so hard to have. In order to do that, I have to learn about it. I have to know what it's like to haul peas all the way up to Crosby because you don't have enough storage for them, I have to know how it feels to be in a combine from dusk until dawn, I have to know how to have the patience to work on machinery, and the realization that sometimes mistakes happen, but most of all I have to know and understand what it's like to balance a family and a farm because finding that balance is really what makes everything else fall into place.