Jerry Spends a Dusty Night on the Combine

This picture shows just how dry it is in the field. It looks like fog, but it is really dust coming off the corn head on my combine. You can only imagine the dust coming out the back of the combine. I was very comfortable in my pressurized air conditioned and heated cab. I often think of my dad and grandfather on their John Deere 55 combine out in the open. Those were the days before cabs. They would sit there running the combine, sometimes with goggles and dust mask. If it was hot they sweated and when it got cold they wore layers of coats. I will always remember my grandfather and his heavy, full-length sheepskin coat.

The weather forecast is calling for a high chance of rain tonight and tomorrow. A little bit of rain would be a good thing. It would lesson the fire danger, give farmers a chance to do some maintenance and maybe catch up on a little rest. A half-inch of rain would help with the tillage, too. It has been so long since it rained the soil is really hard. A little rain would soften it up a little bit. BUT, lets not get carried away with the rain. Notice I said a half-inch would be nice!