"Eli, why're you combining so slow?" Willie barked at me over the 2-way radio.
"Something's not right with my combine," I said, "I need to reduce the feed."
"When I come over, stop and clear your feed, but keep everything rotating. Then I'll walk around your machine."
Wille walked around the combine twice. He climbed up to the cab.
"Eli, I can't see or hear anything wrong."
"But there's something wrong, I can feel it. I can't push this machine too hard."
"OK, I'll trust you on this one.Take it slow. It's better this machine is working than broken down. George will be here in two days. Keep it running until then."
I returned to running farm equipment when my knee got better. But climbing in and out of tractors was hurting me. The good thing was that once I got in the tractor seat, there was no pain. And since we usually worked as a team, there was always someone around to take on those tasks outside the tractor that were too hard for my knee.
After my first season in thecombine, I figured the life lessons I needed to learn and perfect were in the Gleaners, not the tractors. I let younger people take my tractor seat.
∞
Sky is getting bigger in the belly. It's a girl! The role of shaping a life is . . . . so . . . . awesome. What a responsibility to have. My baby's father needs to be there for her in so many ways. And he needs a knee that is working as best it can. Climbing up and down the combine ladder is hard on that knee. My combine circle needs to come to an end. Another circle is starting. I will always be grateful for my time in the Gleaners.
I need to keep this combine running for a few more days. My last days. Somehow the circle will pass my Gleaner lessons to my daughter.
