Cotton Picking Time

Cotton and pecans are staple crops in the Summerdale, Alabama area. We heard an automated cotton picker would be harvesting a crop in a field near the campground so we decided to take a look. We arrived to find one man operating the picking machine and one man operating the machine that packs the cotton into modules. The two man crew was friendly and explained the entire operation to us. In olden days picking cotton was time consuming hard work but today two men can pick a large field in half a day. The picking machine is driven through the rows at a fairly fast speed. The cotton is separated from the pods and is blown into a large storage bin on the rear of the machine where the cotton is compressed. When the picker is full the cotton is off- loaded into a module condenser where a hydraulic ram running the length of the container compresses the cotton into a firm module. Cotton used to be packed in bales that weighed about 550 pounds, but today the modules contain about 15 bales and weigh about 8,250 pounds. We watched the workers pick several acres of cotton and thanked them for letting us see their operation hands-on and for answering our questions. Since retiring and hitting the road fulltime we have received a better education than can be taught in schools and we've met some interesting people to boot.

Our basement storage had been a mess for months and we swore we would re-pack everything once we arrived in Rainbow Plantation. Linda removed everything from the basement while Norm built two shelves for storing cleaning supplies and oil and a shelf for storing lawn chairs and a folding table. Our tools had been spread all over the motorhome so we bought a large tool box with pull-out drawers at Sears. When all of our "stuff" had been removed from the basement and placed in a pile, we took a look at our "stuff" and said: "Is this all we own?" We are a combined 106 years old and all we own is a pile of "stuff." But this is great. We don't own anything we don't need and don't need anything we don't own. After Linda re-packed the basement we found we have more storage space than we need. We did find several items we have not used since we started traveling so we donated those items to the park.

The weekend before Christmas Norm's family gathered at his parent's house in Irvington, Kentucky. We left the Dutch Star in Alabama and drove the Honda north. The day after we arrived the temperature dropped to three degrees and snow covered the ground. This was the first time in a year that all three of Norm's sons had been together. There was a total of twenty-two people for the pre-Christmas get-together. Norm's mother, a remarkable woman age 85, prepared a feast of turkey, ham and all the fixings. It was great to visit with everyone again. Five days after we left Alabama we returned to the Dutch Star.

The next weekend, Christmas weekend, Linda's family gathered at her parent's house near Louisville, Kentucky so we drove back up. Nineteen people were there for lots of talking and some great food. Linda's mother prepares enough food to feed an army and probably fifty pounds of cookies and candy. During our stay we got to spend quality time with Linda's son and daughter. Again on this trip it was cold with snow covering everything. After five days we returned to southern Alabama. Linda's hobby during year 2000 was making afghans for Christmas presents. She gave away thirty-three afghans while we were in Kentucky.

Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama is our favorite park but the weather was so cold we could not venture out and enjoy ourselves. Nearly every day set a record for low temperature. The park has a daily social hour, a Sunday ice cream social, dining out once a week, pot-luck suppers, pizza parties, craft classes, stock market meetings, organized and unorganized games, bus tours to area events and many other activities. When walking, driving or riding bikes, everybody waves. This has to be the friendliest park in the country.

We had met Summerdale resident Ken Dombroski through e-mail and his wife Diane is postmaster of the Summerdale post office. They treated us to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and we enjoyed their company very much. They want to buy a motorhome and travel as much as three months at a time. During our travels we have been fortunate to meet some of the nicest people in the world and we hope to see Ken and Diane down the road someday.

The weather across the country has been extremely cold this December and we would love to seek warmer weather. But Linda's daughter-in-law Amy (Jeremy's wife) is expecting a baby and we want to return to Kentucky when the baby is born. The due date is now January 4 so we will remain in southern Alabama, a one day drive to Kentucky, until the baby comes. We have to be in Quartzsite, Arizona for a rally on January 16 and it is over 1800 miles from Summerdale, so we will do a lot of driving in January. Several people have asked us to visit them on our way to Arizona, but time will not permit any stops except to sleep.