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
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