Farm Day!

My favorite picture from today. Jackson Harold loves dogs.

Gerik and Scott had a fun time today.

Some, well, just one, took naps in the house on the big bed while the rest of us got a farm education.

2 of the boys going for a ride; I think everyone got a turn.

2 friends just about the same age: Destyn and Sarah Kelly

Big Tractor Wheels or tiny little girl?

Sandy and Kelly

Tad takes Jeff out to plant cotton.

Lunch Break from planting cotton

Elizabeth, Harris, Drew, and Gavin

Tuesday, May 9, 2011

Our friends from Charleston, the Nowlins, live in Steele, MO about 30 min. from where we spent the night last night in Dyersburg. We wanted to see them today so after a nice breakfast where Scott and Sarah Kelly were fascinated with an automatic pancake maker; you just push a button and out pops 2 pancakes after several minutes, we loaded up and headed out.

Well we received a farm education. Tad farms with his dad and brother on about 5 - 6 thousand acres, yes, thousand. Today he was planting cotton with the biggest tractor I have ever been that close to. This thing is immense. The whole thing has a computer/GPS system that runs it and it can basically drive itself. It is a beautiful piece of equipment. Everyone got a ride and I only had about 100 questions. Tad lost 180 acres of cotton in the recent flooding. They received 15 inches of rain in just several days. So they will have to replant. Thankfully they'll receive money to do so from insurance. However, a lot of these farmers along the MS who planted in the flood zone and lost it all will not receive any compensation. They don't give flood insurance for land in the flood zone.

Jeff got on the tractor in the buddy seat with Tad and took off to plant cotton saying he was going to see if he should quit his day job. Tad was generous enough to take everyone for a ride while he did his job. Now is a busy busy season for him, he only has a little window of opportunity to get it all in the ground so thank you Tad so much! The children got to catch-up with their friends and did lots of playing outside. We stayed for lunch and into the afternoon. It was so nice to see them and I think they were thrilled to see us. What a godly wife and mother Sandy is. She was willing to move here for her husband and it was a pleasure to witness her joyous and quiet spirit. Sandy, you are a blessing to me. Thanks for a great day.

Now, we are headed to Arkansas and more flooding. We cannot go via Interstate 40; it is closed due to the White River overflowing its banks. And so are parts of downtown Little Rock. We were going to take the children to the Peabody Hotel where Jeff and I were in August to see the ducks parade, but the Arkansas River runs right on the boardwalk side of that hotel. So, we will omit going there. It's awful to see so much flooding; people's whole lives are disrupted by this. Tad said that some farmland will take 10 years to get back to what it was before.