Happy

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are blessed. 

Our harvest is officially underway.  It is ironic, that we began this year on the day we completed harvest last year.  But that is farming.

On our very first basket, Slats pulled up beside the stripper with the boll buggy, but was a little too far away.  When I went to dump the basket, the wind blew some cotton back on the false floor of the stripper.  I saw Slats get off his tractor and walk between the boll buggy and my machine so I figured he and Cody were going to go get the module builder from the barn.

Unbeknownst to me, while I was looking out the left window of the stripper dumping, Slats stepped up on the right rear tire and onto the false floor of the stripper.  The problem is if a person is on there and close to the front the operator can't see them for the burr extractor. 

When I finished dumping, I put the basket down.  Cody was waving for me to lift it up, which I did immediately.  I got out of the cab to see what was wrong and there laid Slats.  When he saw the basket coming down he laid down and rolled into a ball.  You have no idea how relieved I was when he lifted his head up and looked toward me.  I told him to stay where he was and I locked the basket in the upright position.  I walked around the burr extractor to where he was lying and we began talking.  I asked if he wanted me to call an ambulance and he declined.  Gradually he went from a lying position to a sitting position.  He told me, I think we are going to have to go to the emergency room.  We waited until he was ready and he got up and sat on a step by the cab.  In a brief while he was ready to get down from the machine, so with me holding his coat collar and Cody standing below and behind him, we got him to the ground.  He was complaining of his chest hurting and a pain in his chest.

At the ER, x-rays and scans revealed a broken rib.  Doctors decided to send him to Abilene for observation.  In Abilene he coughed a little blood up and doctors discovered the protein level in his urine was off the chart.  Three days and lots of fluids later, they released him.  Two days later he was back at work.

The only lasting reminders are his chest being tender and the whites of his eyes are still very red.  He is a lucky man.

We resumed the stripping one day before Slats returned.  That nearly wore me out.  Cody is a rookie, so he would follow me with the boll buggy and when I was full I would climb down from the stripper and get on the boll buggy tractor and pull up beside the stripper, get back on the stripper and dump, then go to stripping again.  When the boll buggy was full I would meet him at the module builder and change machines again.  We didn't get a whole lot done on that day.

I was sure glad to see Slats return.  Being a one man show was not much fun.

We stripped about a hundred fifty acres before the wintry weather came in.  So far we have not been able to get back in the fields.  Maybe tomorrow.

Gloria Sitton, Jani's mother, died this past Sunday.  We attended a memorial service yesterday in Abilene for her.  There were some precious posts on facebook from Colby, Kelsi and Courtney.  Gloria was a fine woman.  Kind and caring.  She would be pleased with the send off she received.  She had a difficult last few months.  Memorials can be made to the Chuck Sitton Scholarship Fund or Hendricks Hospice.

On the same day, our housekeeper Frances, lost her mother after a brief illness.  Her funeral is tomorrow.

We send our condolences to both of these families.

Thanksgiving at Memama's house is today.  We are expecting forty-four for lunch.  Once again we are doing the meal by committee.  I was in Lubbock earlier this week and met Rian and we bought turkey and ham to go with ham Pat already had.  Rian took them to his home to smoke them.  He and the boys should be here later today.  Stepahnie and JR came in and she and Pat have been preparing pieces of the meal, as have Christy and Lindsey and Christy's Mom.  We worked until late last night here at the house.  Memama has reverted to official taste tester and lets the girls do the bulk of the work.  Robyn came in last night and really made a hand.  She was a big help.  I made a run to the store early yesterday evening.

We are expecting  parts of all our family along with a few guests.

Thanksgiving blessing to you!

FATHER, Thank YOU for all that we have and all that we are.  Thank YOU for the hope and promise we have in Jesus.  Please bless us with safe travel and pleasant memories.  Praise be to YOUR name!