This summer, as a way to spend some of my time and earn a little extra cash, I spent a couple of weeks working in Ransom, Kansas. I helped the Horchem Family (Gary and Luann Horchem, Jerod and Megan Horchem, and Ron and Dorothy Horchem) on their farm. I worked harvest, did some painting, and did other miscellaneous farm-hand tasks. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the crap out of it. It was a nice change of pace from what I normally do. Without getting into all the details of me driving a tractor while pulling a grain cart, changing tires, digging up and repairing water lines, setting up cattle panels, moving machinery and killing a rattlesnake, I am simply going to share a few of the photos I took while I was out there. I hope you enjoy them!
Cutting wheat.Grandpa Horchem jamming out to the radio in the combine.Checking the grain in the grain trailer.Storm clouds rolling in over the wheat field.Moving to another field.Gary putting a flag on his combine.Patriotism and farming. Nothing says America quite so well.The view from my tractor.My tractor and grain cart at the end of the day.Starting the morning with a nice cup of coffee.One field finished.A fresh field waiting to be opened up.Getting my grain cart loaded.Working on the combine.Sun setting over the harvest field.The rattlesnake Gary and I killed. It got pretty close to me. Too close for comfort.The pasture at Jerod’s house. Shortly after I took this picture, the barn on the right was demolished.Jerod’s windmill.A western-Kansas sunset. (It looked so much cooler in real life. This photo, which isn’t great in the first place, doesn’t do it justice.)The Lazy H Quilt Company, which I painted. Check it out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lazy-H-Quilt-Co/278804152239116This little guy was my helper while painting.
Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of media at Sterling College in Kansas. Previously, he taught yearbook, newspaper, newsmagazine, and online journalism in various Kansas high schools, and he ran a weekly newspaper in rural Kansas. He continues to freelance as a professional journalist from time to time. Also, Vogts is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Journalism Education Association (JEA), and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), among others. He earned his Master Journalism Educator (MJE) certification from JEA in 2022. When he’s not teaching or writing, he runs his mobile disk jockey service and takes part in other entrepreneurial ventures. He can be reached at twitter.com/toddvogts or via his website at www.toddvogts.com.
