In a field four or five miles northeast of Neosho Falls, Nathan Mentzer watched as a stream of soybeans flowed from his combines auger Wednesday afternoon.
Mentzer, back on the farm while still holding a part-time job as a mechanical engineer in Kansas City, figures he has another three weeks or so cutting beans in fields scattered through the northwest corner of Allen County.
When the last bean tumbled into the semi-trailer, the combines engine settled to a purr and out stepped wife Heather. Nearby, were their boys, Elijah, 4, and Case, 2, and daughter Jeanie, 8 months.
Its to Nathans good fortune that farming comes second-nature to Heather, who grew up on a farm near Stockton. Though their combine today is more sophisticated from what she operated on her fathers farm, its still just a big machine on wheels.
SO WHAT brought the Mentzers from a comfortable home replete with opportunities in Kansas City back this way?
I was working from 5 a.m. to after dark every day, Nathan said. I decided if I was going to work that much, I might as well be doing it for myself.
Recognizing Mentzers abilities as an engineer, officials at Black & Veatch agreed to him working a more flexible schedule.
There was also the pull of the land. Nathan grew up on the family farm that dates back to the 1930s.
He and Heather also think the rural life is better, where out their back door their children have myriad places to explore, dirt and mud to fashion as they see fit, a sky at night filled with sparkling stars and one set of grandparents, Craig and Denise Mentzer, just a short drive from their Geneva-area home.
In Kansas City, Heather was a stay-at-home mom. Here, she helps occasionally in the field, as in driving the combine, and every now and then Nathan calls to send her on errands to pick up a part or something necessary that day for farm chores.
Nathan also sees opportunities for their children in Iola schools that might not have developed in one many times larger.
They can play football, basketball, run cross country, do whatever they want in a small school and have a chance to succeed, as opposed to the stiff competition at larger schools that force student-athletes to concentrate on one sport or another.
Both graduates of Kansas State University, the Mentzers put a premium on education and are hopeful Iolas school district continues forward, keeping education on the cutting edge and providing a solid future for their three children. The oldest will start school next year.
