harvest, the sensory experience

We're down to 50 acre days right now because we're in the oats.  This is not good as it is about half of what we should accomplish in a day, which is stressing me out as we have stuff to do next weekend.  And we won't be done.  Wish I could just make the calendar stop for a while.  It is, in fact, DH's birthday.  Apparently some people are celebrating thanksgiving.  We are not celebrating - just another dusty workday on the farm, which is sad too.


I am thankful that we're going at all, which is probaby a more appropriate Thanksgiving than celebrating a harvest that is not complete.  And in an odd way, the shorter days are allowing more sleep, although I am getting kind of used to the bone-tired exhaustion that harvest brings.


But, back to the sensory experiences of harvest.  There is a lot of time to think about all this while the repetitive work of combining and the physical work of trucking goes on.  Obviously there is a lot to look at - sensors, the crop feeding, everything that you normally look at while you're driving.  Sometimes you get to take a wee break and look at the fall scenery...or the stars at night.

And, harvest is, by nature, noisy.  Combining is a violent process - the grain has to be separated from the chaff, stalk and other plant matter by grinding it between a rotating rotor and the slotted concave.  Then it is sieved through vibration, the chaff blown away by a rapidly rotating fan, the straw chopped by knives and spread fifteen feet in each direction by the spreaders.  Add to that the feeder chain, the rotating canvases and the huge engine that drives the whole thing and it is just loud.  However, the operator needs to be listening for "unhappy" combine noises - those are usually feeder chain problems, or backfeeding, or the annoying alarms that will come on if you miss all of the warning noises.


The violence of the combine harvester leads to the feeling part of harvest.  You can feel that rotor turning (the cab is right on top of it) and you can feel if the straw is tough.  The motion comes right in through the floorboards - it is kind of like sitting on top of a washing machine, but on a much grander scale.  And, if you happen to be trucking, you can feel every muscle in your body - or at least I can.  The obliques are sore from using both hands to shift (it is complicated).  My poor calves are barely moving from stretching to reach the pedals.  And the shoulders - I have found new muscles there by turning the large steering wheel.  Then there is the dust.  It gets into everything - clogs the pores, making for sore skin.  If it is oat dust, it is so itchy that it is almost beyond description.


Smells are also a big part of harvest.  The smell of the dew falling means that it will be getting tougher to combine soon, and we may have to quit.  Smelling "hot" or smoke will make me stop the combine and check everything out.  


Taste - well, that is the toughest one.  But, as I enjoy my umpteenth cup of chaffy coffee, I know that it is harvest time.  And I'll go eat another sandwich...it is no wonder that I don't like having those for the rest of the year, but they are just the most practical thing for in the field.


Anyway, hope we can get started soon, it would be nice if the wind would get up so that we can get a bit more accomplished today!