City - Near Ladd State - ILLINOIS Country - United States
About
On my way home from work today I cut across Bureau County on the back roads. Just a mile from my house I passed Doug Schlenz doing some fall harvesting. It is sometimes called “combining” but it is actually “harvesting.” I pulled over, popped out, waved my camera and shouted, “Doug! Mind if I take a few photos?” “Sure, I don’t care.” I walked around took a few and then had a nice chat with Doug and his mother, Mrs. Schlenz. I casually mentioned I had been trying for 4 years to get someone to give me a ride along during harvesting and had not yet managed a lift. Doug is not a stupid young lad, “You wanna ride with me?” “Absolutely!!” I clambered up into the cab of the International 1460. There was one seat, so I sat on a metal box-something next to the seat and made myself as comfortable as possible. We headed East making a pass on and end-row. I asked him if we were going around the field and he told me, “Just the end rows first. We plant a couple dozen rows east-west then the rest of the field north-south.” “Why?” “So we can turn around without having to go onto the road. Cut the end-rows and turn in the field." .....Ahhhh….. farm smarts…. "You should ride with someone who does it right. We do hillbilly farming.” "Who around here does it right?" "No one!!!" Then he started laughing.... I like Doug. “How much gas does this hold?” “80 gallons.” “How much can you do on that?” “About 60 acres.” That is pretty good, actually. We only moved a few miles an hour and the combine jarred and bumped on every-stinkin’-root-and-ridge. It was not a smooth ride, at least for me sitting on a metal side-counter, of sorts. We went down a few hundred yards, made the turn and headed back towards the old International truck waiting for the fill. It was about 15 minutes of riding and I have a few interesting shots I will share in a moment. But this is where it gets interesting. I have had a head cold for 4 days and cannot smell or taste anything. That’s why I have not really told Paul what the Punkin’ Ale tasted like… I could only tell it was fizzy water… no taste at all. And because I could not smell anything, my first sensation of something wrong was my right seat-cheek… I stood up quickly and reached around, “YO! I almost set my pants on fire!!” Doug looked down and started laughing and laughing and laughing, “I thought I smelled smoke!!!” I touched my right-rear pocket, “OW!” There was a small hole and a hot spot… I looked down… I had been sitting on the cigarette lighter the entire time. My wallet was between me and the lighter head so I really could not feel it. My weight kept the lighter pushed down for the entire 20 minutes, to the point the plastic head had melted, started smoking then smoldering…. I almost set the dang thing on fire. Doug was still laughing when he snatched the melted head off the lighter and chucked it out the window. There was nothing left but a stud and some charred residue… and a hot hole in my back pocket.
So do not critique the photo above… just sharing a moment of JIL wiff ya all…
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