Hauling… seed

Just spent three days hauling high-olaic sunflower seeds over North Dakota country roads. It was back and forth from the grain elevator in Wimbledon to the sunflower seed plant in Enderlin – about 83 miles one way.

Nights I parked the truck in a line at the gate of the plant, or near the loading chute by the elevator, and slept in the cab.

I had to learn a whole new skill set on the fly: loading the seed, securing the tarp, the correct order to submit samples, weigh, unload and weigh again, etc.

Fortunately I was helped in this process by many kind gentlemen who taught me the procedures – often gruffly and with much profane langauge, but the point is they taught me, and for this much thanks.

I also had to eat on the fly and today I’m going grocery shopping to put together a cooler of food that is, 1) convenient to reach and eat with one hand, and 2) nutricious. Easy.

Driving on state highways in a low-population density state is easy and kind of fun. But you do wind up with the truck drivers’ backaches. I try to deal with that by stretching and doing Tai Chi arm swinging and the Windmill exercise when I have a few free minutes – not a common occurrence on the road during harvest. And when you do have some free time there is a mighty temptation to do something frivolous with it, like eat or sleep.

I’ve also seen a lot of trucks the knights of the road have personalized with their own heraldry. One I saw was kind of sweet. A husband and wife couple had put their names on the side of the cab identifying them as the owner-operators, and listing their eight grandchildren as “co-pilots.”

But I must confess my favorite was a fellow with a black tractor emblazoned with the legend, “You don’t have to have class to haul ass.”