Life on the Farm

Columbia Basin Research Farm


Morning at the farm


Where I go walking nearly every day


Blue Mountains in the background


Lovely Oregon sky


Weather Station


Greenhouse


Where I live

Where I Live

This evening I went for a nice long bike ride through the wheat fields, with trusty Morgan dog running along side me. It was a very soothing way to close out the day.

We are FINALLY unpacked for the most part and getting settled in to life out here on the farm. The transition was not without a few bumps. But now that we are here and have our household arranged, I'm finding I really do savor the peace and privacy.

Over the weekend I went through all the boxes in my office and got my work space all in order. We're starting to hang pictures and have put up curtains throughout the house. (Just the pretty fru-fru kind that go over the mini-blinds...wasn't an essential thing so we took our own sweet time getting around to it, but I must say they make the place look much homier.) The basement still has a bunch of stuff I need to figure out, but our living space is now cozy and comfortable.

We have found a family that wants to buy our house in Athena. We've chosen to rent it to them on a 9 month lease while we wait to see if their house sells so they can close the deal. They have three young daughters and all of them were so excited to move in.

Piece by piece the transitions we set in motion this summer are settling in.

I still have my moments when I miss all I left behind...but the longer we live here the more certain I am it was absolutely the right decision for us.

Wheat Harvest

I had a bit of an adventure this morning. I've been out riding in a John Deer 7700 combine harvesting wheat. Our one neighbor here at the farm was out cutting some fields and said I could go for a ride to see how it is done. DUSTY & NOISY to be sure, but now I can say I've been on a wheat combine. Not sure that's any grand accomplishment, but it was different.

I've always enjoyed trying out rides on different conveyances of one sort or another. When I was 15 and very foolish my girlfriend and I convinced some soldiers at a county fair to take us for a ride in their tank after hours. I've been on trains, all kinds of planes from bi-plane to pontoon to jet, several kinds of boats including sailboat, ferry, glass bottom and hydro. I've ridden on or in trolleys, subways, city buses, taxis, milk trucks, motorcycles, tandem bikes, horse drawn wagons, and any number of different kinds of vans or trucks or cars. The only contraptions still on my list of things I want to experience before I die are a rickshaw and a hot air balloon. I had an appointment for the balloon ride for my last birthday, but it got cancelled due to high winds. Guess I'll have to try that one again sometime soon.

The Rickshaw I am less confident I'll ever experience. When I was younger it was something I was determined I would do one day, mostly because I have a strong desire to travel through Asia. However, ever since reading the book City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre I have questioned the ethics of having another human being pull me around in a cart. Although I might be willing to try out one of the motorized ones that are more common these days.



Of all the different things I have ridden in or on over the years, probably one of my best memories is of a weekend spent pendaling a tandem bike with my beloved as we explored one of the Bass islands off Lake Erie. That was a good trip. With that in mind, it's time for me to turn off this silly computer and go hop on my bike for a spin.