Corn harvest likes to begin in October and sometimes last well into December when the weather doesn’t cooperate. I love to run the grain cart during corn harvest. I can’t say exactly what it is, but there is something about those long rows of stalks that call to me. The way the stalks crackle in the breeze and that mellow smell of drying leaves that is fall to me.

I used to be able to work all of corn harvest, until I started teaching full-time. Now, I only get the chance occasionally. This weekend was one of those chances. And it is kind of like learning to ride a bike in that the routine comes right back to you. There have been some changes in the technology of the tractors though, so that took a little getting used to. 

I found the rhythm still in my bones and I still like to climb out on the tractor tire and watch the corn as it streams out of the grain cart auger and into the truck, and then flows like a waterfall into the auger that corkscrews it up into the bin. Climb in and out of tractors and then propel back out to the combine for another load.

Move everything to the next field and climb the grain bin to open the top for the unloading auger to be set. The whole world is before you up there, and I never could resist leaning down with my head in the empty bin to sing and laugh at the echo that comes up out of that big empty space. It’s magic.