Rice Harvesting and Threshing in the Neighborhood

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It is time of the year where farmers have to harvest their crops, most crops around the neighborhood were harvested and threshed this week,  it was my family’s term in the small rice field my grandmother owns or maybe it is more appropriate to say tenanting.  My family’s term take place every three years since an irrigation was made to help farmers plant their crops.

My father was at work when a cousin came by into our house asking for sacks, it turns out my father’s crops will be harvested today after the group of people done harvesting my cousin family’s crops, instead of the next day like it was planned. My sister was just scheduled to buy the sacks today, so we immediately texted her to bring the sacks to our father and asked him to go home and work only half day. We are caught by surprised because we are not told the change of schedule, we just found that the rice stalks were already cut and collected when we look in the field.

Well, my father went home with the sacks but he has to return to work since he has to work to do and can’t be continued the next day. He asked a female older cousin who is already in the field (with her husband and father) looking after their own crops to hold the sacks for the harvester and look after the sacks of grains, she can do it because she is accustomed with the field work and the harvesters, my father can’t asked me since he knew I can’t do it without scratching all over and I have anti-social issue eh, I went to the field to bring the plastic ties for the sacks and went back again after the workers asked for cold water, I brought a pitcher and set of bread with the help of my mother but since she can’t go to the field with her condition she remain in the street. I wasn’t happy doing those things because the weather isn’t good, it was scorching hot and the field isn’t friendly.  Yes, I have complained since I believed it should be my father doing this, he should be the one looking at the harvester and the grains since he knew how the entire process worked.

Anyway, to cut the story short we yield thirteen sacks of rice grains but only get eleven and half after the harvester took their share, only half of the field was harvested because the other half was still unripe, the unripe part was eaten by worms previously and since the rice stalks have to regrow they are not able to grow at the same rate on the uneaten part of the field.  We have to pay for the harvester to carry the sacks of grains home and  my cousin who look after them.

When my father came home I have told him that next time (harvest time) he must not go to work so he can look after the harvester because I can’t do it since it is a man’s job and I have not accustomed with field work since it was only this late we started planting crops and I am too weak to do it because of the pain in my chest, yeah we do field work in school but it was just an hour or two. As expected I developed itchy rashes on my legs, they were too itchy that I can’t stop scratching until it bleeds but what is pain in the ass was  I got a muscle cramps on my right arm that I can’t carry things or move my arm freely without agonizing in pain, dunno if it is from my chest issue or I twitched a muscle since it was a bit swollen when I wake up in the morning.

Anyway, the grains we yielded will be a great help to my family. We will not be buying rice for time being which is good because my sister will be jobless again, her work will end this October because the girlfriend of the owner’s brother will work in the water station so the couple could save money for their wedding next year.

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