You Can't Fool A Farmer About The Weather.

Farmers don't just know the lay of the land!

Do you remember those old black & white movies about schooners, sailboats and pirates? It might have been the Bounty or some such. But I still recall a scene where one of the sailors needs to empty a bucket of waste into the ocean. Being young, it took me a while to understand why he first licked his finger and held it up in the air. He needed to see where the wind was blowing from as having the contents of this bucket blown back at him would have been simply yuck.

Farmers use sophisticated weather forecast just to make sure, but they know even before they look at the weather channel. It may be a finger stuck in the air or a twitching in their little finger or a cow mooing differently. But farmers the world over know.

Before Bob and I moved here, we came here to visit my parents. Our room was in front of the house, facing the street and thus the neigbours. Holidays are exciting anyway, but Bob and I got an extra dose of it. In the middle of the night, we both woke up. There was a loud humming sound in the air and as we looked out our window from our bed we saw huge round lights that hovered about 3 meters in the air.

We instantly recalled all the Sci-Fi movies we had ever seen and thought aliens had come to get us. At least for a second. Bob being brave rushed to the window to have a closer look. Men are funny that way and I suppose very brave...or eh, stupid! After a minute the penny dropped and he started to laugh. Yes, it was the neighbour, a farmer, taking his combine harvester ( huge beasts of machinery ) out to do its work. The ' alien ' lights, were just its brights... Oh well, now we knew!

On Monday evening another combine harvester cut a swath through the wheat field next to our house. The farmer started at sundown and luckily we knew why there were two huge round lights hovering about in the field. I was still wondering why they would work so late into the night and got my answer the next morning, on Tuesday. Our hot and sunny weather had gone elsewhere for a while. Yes, the afternoon brought heavy and continuous rain with it.

When I went for my walk yesterday morning, I saw how quick on their feet our farmers are. All the wheat fields along my route had changed. In fact, they really looked nice. When I rounded one corner I stumbled across a view, that could have been a setting for Claude Monet.
Just too beautiful, don't you think?

As I told you, the hot sunshine with the azure blue sky had disappeared for the day, but I still adore this view.

Such symmetry. As if these round balls of straw are standing to attention...( not sure if I can all it a hay-bale, as it is straw, isn't it? )

Perfectly rounded into a huge ball.

Can you see the raven perching on the bale of straw?

Here is a quick reminder what the wheat looked like before it was harvested. Also a picture of beauty...

Biggi