Fall harvest continues into another month on our farm. All of the dryland and irrigated corn and popcorn have been picked and either binned or delivered to the local elevator.

We’ve also fenced off and opened up the corn field bordering our pasture ground to allow the cattle to graze on the stalks this fall following a hot and dry summer that has definitely impacted the availability of good grass and ample natural water sources.

Opening the corn field to the cattle has provided an additional feed source for the animals, but it has moved them farther away from the remaining pools of water located throughout our dry creek bed.

A new routine has been added to our mornings and evenings as we haul water to a large stock tank that we’ve put in the corn field. The mornings have consisted of hauling water out to the stock tank. The evenings have been the same. 

It’s been a nice chore to add as I get to check on the cattle, see if any new calves have arrived and sit quietly on the tailgate of the truck as I wait for the water from our nurse tank to empty into the stock tank.

Waiting on the water has been my theme in recent weeks.

In reality, we’ve been waiting on the water for the majority of the summer as well. We’ve waited for summer rains that never arrived for us. 

But when September became October, the waiting stopped … at least for a few moments.

In just the first few days of October, we’ve received more water in the form of rain than we did all summer.

It’s been the type of rain that comes down so hard and so fast that the parched ground doesn't have time to soak it all up. The type of rain that fills the creek and floods the roads. The type of rain that causes the school busses to adjust for rural mud routes. The type of rain that keeps me from hauling and waiting on the water.

It amazes me how things can change in such a short period of time. 

From going from incredibly dry to incredibly wet. From waiting on the water to now waiting on it to dry out so we can get back into the fields and continue harvesting the rest of our fall crops and getting the next crop of wheat into the ground.

It’s those extreme differences and extreme transitions that I’m routinely reminded of while living this life. In any case, we’re always waiting on something.