Our final day in Stratford started with a relaxed morning. The kids were tired after several late nights and both my wife and I needed time to get some things done. I got new tires for our truck after the blowout on I35. After lunch, we began with a history lesson about the Swedish heritage of this area. Mr. Young took us out to see a small house built by a Swedish couple at the turn of the century.
The old lady, whose grandparents built the house, was more than happy to show us around and tell us all about it. In the first room, several of the original furniture was still in place.
The house is now run as a small bed and breakfast with three double beds and a baby bed on the second floor and a double bed in the bedroom on the first.
After learning about the house and life in the early 1900s the kids got to help the lady pick up walnuts. They were so excited about the rolling tool used to pick them up, it was actually hard to get them to stop when it was time to leave.
Our next stop turned out to be a big favorite. Mr. Young had called to local co-op to see if anybody was harvesting this day when the chance of rain was so high, and a cousin of his was harvesting corn just down the road from the Swedish house.
The size of a harvester like this is truly impressive. This one can cut and process 12 rows of corn at a time. Fewer men can do much more work with help of these machines, than just a few years ago. In this field, there were 2 harvesters, and two tractors pulling the large carts to help transfer the corn from the harvester to the semi truck that takes it to the silo where it will be stored. The process was very impressive to watch, and the kids got to see it up close as they were invited to ride along in the harvester for a short run.
We had come just in time, the run with the kids turned out to be the last run of the day. Even before they came back the wind picked up and the temperature dropped significantly. Only minutes after we were back in the car the sky opened up and a heavy rainfall began. Dry inside the car we got a lesson about how corn is sown, grows and finally harvested.
We took a short drive in the rain to an Ethanol processing plant that processes about 100 semi trucks of corn every day. They produce ethanol, but also corn oil and animal feed.
We feel very privileged getting to learn from someone that spent his whole life working on a farm. He never went to college, but the skill and knowledge accumulated over decades are impossible to put a measurable value on.
A huge thank you to the Young family for taking us in and sharing life with us during this weekend in Stratford. I know that the kids learned a lot, and truth be told, so did I. We should all now be a little better at answering the important question:
In short, I think our answer would be:
Thanks for reading!