June 4th today got me to thinking

Our daughter was born on June 4th 1975 and that year I hadn't planted one bean seed yet here in NW Iowa. It was pretty darned wet that spring, like what you guys in the eastern states are going through now, and I was disking cornstalks at 1:00 AM with my brand new 1070 Case and new Case 21 foot disk when I got notice the time had come.

Took her to the hospital and a thunderstorm came through that knocked out the electricity while she was in labor. It rained like cats and dogs that night which set us back some more. Don't remember when I finished planting but I had somewhere around 250 acres of beans to plant with a 51 JD A and IH 58 6 row 30 planter.

Had a late frost that fall and the beans yielded somewhere in the mid-30's which was about average for the time. Come to think of it, one 6 acre field just wouldn't dry out and was planted on July 10 and yielded 20. Just reminicing. Jim

In 1973 I turned 16. Couldn't wait to get my drivers license on Friday June 11th.

We weren't done with beans yet on that Friday. I worked all the ground for dad at that time and was told I could go get my license when I got that last 40 ready to plant. It was about 3 in the afternoon and I had to run over that 40 one more time with a harrow yet. Dad was planting in another field and wouldn't plant the field I was in till the next day.

I went over and told him I was going to go into town and get my license. I would finish that harrowing when I got back in about a hour or two.

He said your not going anywhere till your done.

Got done harrowing rushed to the house and it was 10 till 5. Not enough time to get to town.

Sooo I had a car setting in the yard all weekend and could not drive it. All my BIG plans were gone.

Know what??? I survived.

Beans did fine that year also here in SE Iowa.

IaGary

("Sooo I had a car setting in the yard all weekend and could not drive it. All my BIG plans were gone.

Know what??? I survived.")

Life can write a different story:
Maybe you wouldn't be here today if you had gone ahead with your big plans.

Back in '85 I worked midnights, on leaving, one of the guys had left his lights on, so I went back inside to find him and tell him.
It took about 5 minutes, being it was Friday I was heading North with my dog. I got about 20 miles outside Toronto, a tractor with a flat bed trailer came down the on ramp, he must have thought he had a full size covered trailer because he moved over as to miss the lower end of the bridge. I couldn't move over or do anything except brake. As I braked I looked in my mirror there was a huge cube van in my mirror, as I saw it bang, I was going backwards then sideways and over the guardrail the car went about 60-70' into the Median. The car was a little Honda hatchback not much left worth saving.

Moral of this story:
If I hadn't gone back in the shop to find the guy . . . No accident.

If I didn't have my seat belt on, well I might not be typing this.

If I hadn't taken out the 2- motors w/gear boxes the night before, well I might not be typing this.

Well it could have been worse (bigger Truck), but the dog and I survived, neck still hurts. Dog lived to be 17.

Oh the Insurance Co. tried to make a big deal out of it, said I was driving the wrong way.