Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Dryland Wheat on Rolling Hills

Gracious Hospitality readers will be quick to realize that I have a love affair with flowers. Spring is my favorite season, and flowers, both cultivated and wild are so appreciated by me. Sometimes I feel like I am 'unfair' with the other seasons. I don't celebrate them in quite the same way. But, living with the passage of four definite seasons does bring me joy. It seems that each one makes me appreciate the others even more. In our community, things start to dry up in the late summer. If it weren't for irrigation, everything would be desert! During the late autumn, the dryland wheat farmers plant wheat seed and it sprouts before the first snowfall. By early spring the fields are showing pretty green shoots that rapidly grow throughout the spring and summer. One of our family members always comments early in the summer that "it won't be long until wheat harvest" and the rest of us are known to tease him about his rushing of the season. But, this year the wheat harvest seemed to sneak up on us. Wheat ranchers and their combines are busy harvesting. The grain elevators near our home are rumbling with wheat trucks and huge piles of golden grain are mounding up beside the tall, silver elevators at river's shore.

It is somewhat unusual that most of the wheat fields in our area are on hills rather than in flat fields. I tried to get a picture to show you how the combines are especially equipped for hillsides. The combine stays level while the wheels hug the hillside thanks to special self-leveling suspension devices. It is amazing how the large combines can maneuver hillsides that are extremely steep and precarious!

The same family member who speaks of how it won't be long until the wheat is harvested looked at this scene of harvesters and said "so much wheat, and I cannot eat a bite". Even after ten years of living with celiac, the loss is still keenly felt. Thank you, God, for yummy alternatives like millet, amaranth, corn, and quinoa. It's not quite the same, but. . .it there are alternatives. If you are a gluten-free blog reader, check out this site for recipes that help fill the gap. And for those who can enjoy the nutty benefits of whole wheat --- enjoy each and every bite!

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:50 PM

    I can't believe summer is almost over. The flowers lack luster in our area already but as fall is my favorite season I will have something to look forward to.

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  2. The combines and wheat remind me of a past time living in the Kansas wheatland. Their is a beauty to even that.

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  3. Oh what beautiful amber waves of grain. We went on a drive on our 26th wedding anniversary and saw gorgeous hills like these, but alas, poor me...I forgot the camera! Thanks for the pics.
    Blessings, Lady

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  4. Ah, I love these scenes. My own hometown is surrounded by fields and fields of grains. I love them in every season and I missed them when I lived elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your pix. :)

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  5. Oh, you brought back such sweet memories! When we were first married we lived in a small town in Eastern Oregon. Surrounded by wheat fields. Acres and acres of wheat. Some of the men in our church were wheat ranchers and my sweetheart often helped them with harvest. He drove the big rigs over hills of gold just like your photos. Those were precious days when we were young and life was ahead of us. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
    ~Adrienne~

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