Last night I was driving alongside a field of several moving combines (I believe I could make out about five). As their lights shone and twirled in a whirl of dust it put me in mind of a sort of Harvest Hoedown. Pulleys twirling and cutters and headers moving in an exotic rhythm as dust and insects became momentarily visible only to disappear suddenly as the machine quickly turned inwards and sashayed in another direction.
Along with this Harvest Polka , I noticed that two park lights of what appeared to be a small truck sitting on one side at the edge of the field were on and the vehicle wasn't moving.
I recognized the reasoning behind this scene immediately, then thought to myself that over the last 40 years some things never change.
It probably still is a bad thing to drive over an unharvested grain swath with any type of vehicle --even a bike.
It probably still is a good idea to have the back chute closed before filling the truck box up with grain, rather than driving back to the house with a full load leaving a little tell tale trail behind.
I'd even bet it is still a bad idea to mess with the mirrors of any type of grain truck for at least the next six weeks. This bad idea also can cover the risk one takes by moving any oddly placed boards, flags, or pails near the hopper and auger where grain trucks back up to unload.
Even with the common use of hopper bottom bins it seems to me that it still isn't a good idea to leave rarely used wooden bin door slats inside the bin and proceed to auger grain on top. Children can learn many many new swear words with the breaking of this rule.
Books in a grain truck are OK as long as one doesn't see the full combine having to wind it's way over to the truck from the other side of the field because there has been 'reading going on" instead of paying attention. I use the term 'wind' as combiners will never break the 'Do Not Drive on the Swath Rule'.
I KNOW this one is still in effect: One must never ever lean over the twirling power take off which is situated under the lifted truck box to pull the hoist lever to tilt the full box even higher. You will get yelled at a lot if you do this...I know. This rule is a real biggie right along with knowing which is the diesel fuel tank and the purple gas tank if you are the Gas Gopher for the season.
And finally, I'd bet some Serious Coin that there are at least a few farmers who still think the best way to test the fitness or grade of the wheat is to grab a handful of grain from truck as it flows from the chute to the auger and, after a careful look at the general colour and shape of each kernel in their open palm (while flicking away the odd beetle or grasshopper), raise it up to their mouth and stick their tongue out to pick up some of the golden coloured grain in order to give it the chew test which analyses the hardness and texture. These taste test predictions, it was thought, helped the farmer decide whether to wait a day or so before finishing a field or to surge on ahead into the wee hours of the morning as long as the dew stayed away.
Now getting back to the park lights on in the parked half-ton.
How else are you going to find your mode of transportation back to your home/bed on a moonless night at 2:30 am after the barley finally gets tough as there are no landmarks or bushes left on the rock pile free, mostly level prairie grain field?
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