Harvest Time

Still in Kansas and amazed at how different each state in the US is. For those that follow our blog so you can follow our travels on our boat don’t miss what there is to see in the United States on land trips. When we travel here in the states on our old antique motor bike there is so many little things we may never mention or talking about seeing and doing is never like being there. I heard a women say one time she had been to Texas and didn’t see any thing to impress her there. I ask what part see was in. She said she had a eight hour layover in the airport in Houston. I said you had a layover in a Texas airport and now you have seen Texas? Believe me traveling on just the state roads not the back roads in Texas will take some time out of your life and all the time there is new things to see every day. Each state in the US has a lot to see if you take the time. Here where we are in Kansas it’s farm country and it’s harvest time for soy beans and Milo.

Milo that has been harvested and ready to be sent to mills.

Fields full of equipment no one could have even dreamed of in the 1960’s when I was back on the farm. No rain for a month now and with most of the land and fields open with no trees the wind is always a problem here. Had a wind storm with dust a few days ago. It was just another adventure. I went out to see if I missed putting up anything before the storm. Couldn’t see in 75 mile per hour wind gust and blowing dust. The dust seem to find it’s way into every thing. We drive and old truck that belongs to our son that is 49 years old and tired when we are out here. I new dust would find it’s way inside. What I didn’t think about was I left a window about haft way down. Had to clean the inside before we could even drive it. Just more adventure. Weather getting cooler here now and the wild life is changing. I hear bird sounds now and in looking to see where the sound is coming from I know now to look up. Only thing is how high snow geese fly. I have had a pilot licenses most of my life now and wonder if geese have figured out winds aloft. Most people don’t know that the wind blows different at different altitudes. Maybe these geese are working a tail wind because they are sometimes really high. Pam has a bird feeder just out side her kitchen window and we watch birds fight over the seed some time. Very few birds coming now with harvest going on. Milo stored on the ground with all the power lines covered in birds. Why would you go to a little bird feeder with a mountain of seed in front of you?

We were lucky enough to get a picture of a bagger raiding a mouse den. He ran off with one in his mouth.

Still In Kansas

It’s the start of the change of season out here in Kansas and even if we miss our sail boat. Hopefully she’s setting safely at a dock in Guatemala. The weather is great here. We have some friends in Guatemala that email us and say it’s still really hot there. It’s hitting the 40s here at night and the 70s during the day. Wearing cloths feel good here and Pam can and does wear what she selects for what time of day. We all so have a washer and dryer in the basement here. A cruiser’s dream. On our boat it’s a old time wringer and a bucket. Wearing clothes in the Caribbean it’s how little you can get by with and it being so hot there. Going to stores here in Kansas you never see men my age shopping in and old holey tee shirt, cut off jeans, un-kept long gray ponytail and flip flops. Thinking about it I never smell marijuana out here ether. Maybe marijuana is one factor in the Caribbean for cruisers living on beans and rice in the heat and living in flip flops saying. “Living in paradise.” The Chinese virus is keeping most of what we love to do out here from happening. One thing we did last week was give a lecture at the Heritage Club. It went well I think. How do you know. How do you know what older people care about. Do they really care about boats and traveling on boats, traveling on motor bikes, flying air planes or back backing. Telling people about us making our own home made sausage or grinding our own grits. The people we tell out here young or old mostly say “That’s good but why do you do that?” Traveling on our boat it’d necessary, not so much out here but it’s so good and maybe it’s caring on the tradition of living simple. A lot of people talk about living down on the farm the way it was when I was growing up. How can we carry that life on as we age. We can’t but we can and do garden out here. Go help farmers with there cows sometimes. We are in to hunting and Pam is into canning. Maybe that is all we can do in the times we live in now. We are planning on bring our boat “Pamela Ann” back to New Orleans in the spring. There in Louisiana we have a life we miss like Blue crab, oysters, Craw fish and good music. Life goes on even if the adventure has slowed down some. Life is still good. The weather is good. Riding our old motor bike out here is good. The food out here is wonderful. There is always something to complain about so for now Pam and I we will try not to worry about our boat and just enjoy being together out here at our little house on the Kansas prairie.

Garden still producing.

Squash are taking over.

Some of the tomatoes we got canned.

We have had problems with internet, hope we have that solved now.