Some work had already been done a few weeks ago, mostly getting the ground worked up and about 100 acres of corn put in the ground. Other than that, it was a day for a community blitz of the Johnson Family's 500 cultivated acres.
Scotty and Rich were at the head of the table and Rich came ready with a spreadsheet of data converted onto two large poster boards and affixed to the wall. I'm not sure Mrs. Johnson is really happy about that, but right now everyone is smiling and listening to the plan.
There is another 100 acres of hay that needs to be cut and the Christopherson bunch from across the valley and Brook said they will cut the hay today and return in two days to bale and stack it near the dairy barn.
My job is to be available to make runs to the feed mill, implement dealer, or hardware store depending on what might be needed and to run snacks and drinks from the house to the fields where the crews are working. I may even take a couple rounds in a tractor myself, but Rich told me I could be more valuable as a glorified go-fer. Since I know everyone around these parts, it made sense to me, and if John or Julie need something I can help them, too.
Rich will stay in mission control, as he calls it, plotting toy John Deere tractors across an over-size map of the Johnson farm. Scotty wants to climb into the tractor and start planting beans. The planter is full of seed and the fields are waiting. He thinks he can get 200 acres in by nightfall, or however long he has to work to finish the job.
Mike and Ben Miller are over with their equipment and they plan to work together to finish planting 150 acres of corn. It's good to see them again, since they sold off their herd and just kept doing a cash crop they picked up jobs in town, so the only time we usually see each other is waving from behind the wheel of our trucks. Each man grabs a doughnut and a steaming thermos of coffee and head out the door.
I can't help but watch John and Julie as all this planning takes place around them. They are much quieter than usual and seem to be wiping their eyes frequently. When they greeted us on arrival, they insisted we didn't need to go to all this fuss, but they appreciated it and their strong embraces told me just how much they meant it.
A new family to the area came in after everyone else arrived, and said they want to help. Rich told him the remaining 150 acres needs to have some wheat, rye, and barley put in at 50 acres a shot and they were up for it.
Turns out the Hoppsbergers are something of experts in that field and run test plots for the university on their land. John and his brother Jeff have an impressive New Holland rig sitting out on the road, and while they absorbed the ribbing for not driving the proper green and yellow tractor - everyone is glad to have the help.
By 8 o'clock the house was silent - just the Johnsons, Rich, and me watching everyone load into their tractors and get to work.
I asked John and Julie how things were going since he was told he had leukemia. Julie's eyes started to well up a bit and she turned her attention to making another pot of coffee. John looked at me and said right now doctors are trying to get a handle of what is going on with his blood counts and are having him come in frequently for testing.
John says it's still too early to say anything for sure, but doctors seemed optimistic. Down the road, he might need blood transfusions and ultimately might need a bone marrow donor. But, for now, he said, what he needed most was the medicine his friends delivered... a good old fashioned helping hands.
Catch up on the story here.
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