| We arrived at Hammon at
about 2:00. Dad had already eaten dinner and was in his
"office," otherwise known as his "playhouse." He was at work
sawing some local wood, preparing to make a lamp. I watched
him work for a few minutes and invited him to show off his
latest creations. He specializes in making lamps, canes, and
small bowls from the local wood. (In some of the photos
below, the reader will see a cane that was made from wood that
came from my great-grandfather, Jacob Flick's house.)
We spent the better part of two hours
in the "office" talking about family, friends, and farming, focusing mostly on
this year's wheat harvest, which was one of
the worst in decades. Throughout most of Oklahoma, wheat
production was down by as much as 50% to 52%. The reason for
the poor crop was attributed to drought and a major
freeze which occurred in mid-April. Oklahoma's wheat is
a winter-hardy, hard wheat that can withstand severe
conditions. It rarely freezes in April in Oklahoma. Dad said
that we could have used some of Al Gore's "global warming"
this year, but no such luck. So much for global warming, the
man-made kind...
Our conversation turned to reminescing
about harvesting
wheat 50 to 75 years ago. Dad and I reminisced about cutting
wheat with the old combines of the 40's & 50's era. I can
remember, as a boy of 10 or 12, standing on the small platform
in front of the grain bin of Dad's Allis Chalmers model 60
combine as he was cutting wheat. He still has three of the old
combines stored in an old farm equipment graveyard. I collect photographs of
antique farm equipment and wanted photos of those combines as
well as
other old equipment in the old equipment final resting place.
After taking a few photographs of some
of the old equipment, my brother-in-law, Larry Grabeal,
drove me southwest of Hammon to one of the several farms
operated by his son and my nephew, Scott Grabeal. There I took a
photograph of a classic 1950's model Massey Ferguson tractor
which had recently been restored. Scott restored the old
tractor himself in his shop. While we were there, we observed
a large field of wheat which was next in line to be harvested.
Dad and I then drove north of Hammon
to another of Scott's farms where harvest was in full
swing. I spent about an hour riding in the combine. It was a joy to spend
time on the machine, watching it cut a 30 ft. swath. Modern
self-propelled combines can cut a swath nearly 5 times wider
than the old pull-behind harvesters. My
brother-in-law was driving the grain cart. While we were in
the field, Art Carpenter, a retired neighbor farmer stopped
and watched the operation. He and Dad spent 45 minutes or so
visiting about this years crop. It was a delight to
listen to the two elderly gentlemen talk.
At about 8:00pm, Dad and I returned to
the house. Effie and I bid farewell to Dad & Mother
returned to Enid. It was a good day for me in Roger Mills
County on Father's Day. |
