View from the Cab: Thankful for plenty

With another farming season in the rear-view mirror, we have plenty to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving week.

I hope you enjoy this year’s list of reasons I am thankful.

• We aren’t still combining at the end of November.

• The harvest wasn’t as horrible as we all had feared going into it.

• We never got stuck this fall (but came pretty close a time or two).

• Turkey Day will be worry free since we don’t have to rush out to the field after dinner.

• Yields held up alright despite some really weird conditions during planting.

• The bottom hasn’t fallen out of the corn or soybean markets just yet.

• I was able to enjoy several days in the spring and fall alongside my family since they came to see me numerous times in the field and ride along.

• Field meals…need I say more?

• I had the chance to haul to the elevator in the truck a few times like the old days.

• A big breakdown did not occur while I was driving the combine or tractor.

• I didn’t go crazy as the calendar turned to November and we still had beans standing (although I did feel like pulling my hair out a few times).

• Our drivers never had to wait in line at the elevator very long.

• That big rock I picked up with the bean head didn’t go through the combine.

• The combine has a refrigerator.

• The combine has four-wheel drive.

• All of the machinery has heaters.

• Insulated coveralls.

• Cab snacks.

• Leftover Halloween and Easter candy.

• The strength to plan for another season despite not knowing what crop prices will do and how high inputs may go.

Enjoy the time you spend with family and friends this Thanksgiving. Remember, the holiday is about much more than stuffing yourself with turkey and dressing while watching football on the couch the rest of the day. Let’s all reflect on how blessed we really are.

(The View from the Cab is powered each week by Petersen Chevy-Buick in Fairbury)