Thanksgiving II

     The tractors work is done, so we are slowing down to full speed on the farm. The weather has bee fabulous. Cleaning the pickers is no fun when it is 50F with cold winds.
     We got the water started on the wheat. The goal is to get it all watered by Christmas so we can enjoy the holidays with our families knowing the work is done.
   We do have Fall colors here.

This is the view from our back porch yesterday as I sat grading papers.

Here is the second Thanksgiving piece I did for radio this week.

Thanksgiving Day II

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright November 2012

I think what C.S. Lewis says about praise also applies to giving thanks. It is, "inner health made audible."

Thanksgiving Day is important.

Thanksgiving Day is more than one day in the rush of 365 other days.

We have a lot to be thankful for. In the rush of life we, OK, I forget to say, "Thank you" too often.

You know me well enough to know I like that Lone Ranger, rugged individualism stuff. But even with all that I know I depend- a lot, on other people. Telling them Thank You wouldn't kill me and would begin to acknowledge how much I appreciate them. Giving thanks is "inner health made audible."

There is a certain grace and humility that comes with giving thanks. In giving thanks I am acknowledging I can’t do it all myself.

Even if you don’t farm, we can all give thanks-

For the harvest,

For the God who makes it possible,

And for the hands who produce our food.

The food on our tables didn’t get there by accident. It takes a lot of work, by a lot of people to feed us. I, for one, am thankful for all their work.

I hope Y'all have a fabulous week!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thanksgiving Day I

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright November 2012

We have turned Thankgiving Day into a time for family, football and kickoff for the holiday shopping season.

Now there is nothing wrong with family or football, but that wasn't the original intent of the holiday.

I know Farmers grumble a lot, but even we know we have a lot to be thankful for. We live in the Land of the Free, because of the Brave. We live in the country with the greatest freedom, opportunity and prosperity the world has ever known. We are living at the beginning of the 21st Century after a century of amazing technological innovation.

A hundred years ago an amazing man, half a world away wrote some wise words about giving thanks. Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a physician, theologian and world-class organ player. He was a man who lived out his faith as a medical missionary.

What Schweitzer wrote about thanks applies today.

   "The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live."

Happy Thanksgiving Y'All.

Wheat's in the Ground

Well it has been a busy week. We finished second picking. We got the stalks shredded and we got the new furrows pulled.

It may not be pretty, but we 'Gettin' 'er done.' The rain the end of the week slowed us down a little bit. But, we should still get it covered before Thanksgiving. Then we start the water and the whole cycle begins again.

I should probably take a picture of a lonely mail box for this, one of my radio pieces this week was on getting directions and it involved a mail box.

Country Directions

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

            When we moved up here it cracked me up when someone would give me directions: “go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and then right where the big tree used to be.” Seriously? How could I possibly know where the big tree used to be? Just give me an address and I’ll find it.

            Growing up in San Diego we used city boy directions- you got an address and then drove to the address. If you needed a map you got a map out- and there you are.

            The funny thing is- can you guess how I give directions now? Yeah, you got it right. I don’t know anyone’s address. But, if you go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and right where the big tree used to be…

            There just aren’t enough street signs out here in the country. Even with maps and modern toys like GPS and smart phones, sometimes the best directions are to navigate by land marks. A long time ago Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. Maybe he was on to something.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Now to Get the Ground Work Done Before It Rains

First harvest of cotton was done a week ago.. We will finish second pick tomorrow. Then we will work the ground so we can get the wheat planted.

   I am not fond of second picking, but if I wait long enough for all the Pima to open I put the whole crop at risk of rain. Sustained rains can ruin the quality of the unpicked cotton fiber. So we get 90-95% on the first pass, let it open some more and go get the rest.

   We have heavy clay soils, so the next job is to turn the cotton ground around and plant the wheat. The machine above is a cotton shredder. It mows the plants, shredding the stalks into little bits so we can work them back into the soil. So this week we will have on tractor running day and night; two tractors running all day. There is some rain n the forecast, which is not unusual. The race is to see if we can get the work done before the rain hits and before we tear up all the equipment. I call this the demolition derby. I'll keep you posted on how we are doing.

In the mean time, here is the text for one of this week's radio pieces.

Country Directions

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

            When we moved up here it cracked me up when someone would give me directions: “go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and then right where the big tree used to be.” Seriously? How could I possibly know where the big tree used to be? Just give me an address and I’ll find it.

            Growing up in San Diego we used city boy directions- you got an address and then drove to the address. If you needed a map you got a map out- and there you are.

            The funny thing is- can you guess how I give directions now? Yeah, you got it right. I don’t know anyone’s address. But, if you go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and right where the big tree used to be…

            There just aren’t enough street signs out here in the country. Even with maps and modern toys like GPS and smart phones, sometimes the best directions are to navigate by land marks. A long time ago Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. Maybe he was on to something.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Working Dogs

First pick of cotton is done. 

   It was a demolition derby. We had fits with one picker head on Monday and Tuesday. Finally got that ironed out.
   We will pick it a second time. I hate picking seconds because it tears up the equipment, but we can't afford to leave good cotton in the field. IF there was a year we could skip seconds this would have been it. The cotton was well open. We've picked a few days of seconds and, lo and behold, there is a fair amount of seconds. Weather permitting we'll finish seconds this week and get the ground turned around so we can plant wheat by the end of the month.

The subject of one of my radio pieces this week was working dogs-

Working Dogs

by Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

I have introduced you to my dog, Indy, and you know I think the world of him.  But the amazing dogs on the farm are the working dogs- sheep dogs and cattle dogs.

Years ago we went to the Grand National Rodeo up at the Cow Palace. It was pretty amazing

 watching the sheep dog trials. The human would stand on one end of the field, whistle and send hand signals and down to the other end of the field and the dogs would gather the sheep and bring them back in. This summer I watched the sheep dogs on the neighbors ranch help the shepherd gather in some sheep that had broken through the fence. Then the dog hopped on back of the four-wheeler and rode off with his human.

            When we used to work cattle the dogs would go out to the far end and bring the cattle in. Just amazing animals.

            Just another dimension to life on the farm. The animals are not just pets, or toys- they are part of the working landscape. There’s nothing wrong with pets. I love Indy and he doesn’t gather cattle. But, there is something special about working dogs.

I hope Y'all have a great week!

P