Some memories stay with you because they are joyful. Others stay because they change the way you see the world.
One of the clearest memories from my childhood happened during the summer of 1962 on our family ranch near Edwall, Washington. At the time, I was only eleven years old. I had no idea that a short drive with my parents would become one of the defining moments of my life.
A Drive I Never Forgot
My father asked my mother to gather my sister and me and join him in the station wagon. We drove up a steep dirt road to a hill overlooking part of our ranch. When we got out, he pointed toward a large field of winter wheat below us.
Then he said something I will never forget:
“There will be no Christmas this year.”
To a young boy, those words carried enormous weight.
The wheat crop had been attacked by a disease known as straw breaker. The field we were looking at would never produce the harvest our family had counted on. Over the next several days, my father would disk the entire crop under and start over.
Learning How to Handle Disappointment
What stands out to me today is not the failed crop itself.
It is how my father handled it.
He did not complain. He did not blame anyone. He did not spend days dwelling on what had gone wrong. Instead, he accepted the situation and focused on what needed to happen next.
At eleven years old, I didn’t realize I was receiving one of the most valuable lessons of my life. Looking back, I understand that I was watching resilience in action.
The Risk Behind Every Opportunity
My father wasn’t careless.
He had prepared the ground, planted at the right time, fertilized properly, and done everything a good farmer was expected to do. The problem wasn’t a lack of effort.
The problem was uncertainty.
He had chosen a variety of wheat that offered the potential for a strong harvest, but it also carried greater risk. That year, the risk didn’t pay off.
Many people spend their lives trying to avoid uncertainty. The trouble is that growth rarely happens without it.
A Lesson That Followed Me Through Life
As I grew older, that experience stayed with me.
Whether I was making decisions in athletics, leadership, or life, I often found myself thinking back to that hill overlooking a failed wheat field.
The lesson was simple.
You can do everything right and still face disappointment.
What matters most is what you do next.
One belief followed me throughout my life:
“Being low on risks leads to being high on regrets.”
That doesn’t mean every risk should be taken. It means that fear alone should never be the reason for standing still.
Why This Story Matters Today
Years have passed since that summer afternoon, but the lesson remains the same.
Everyone faces moments when things don’t go according to plan. A career opportunity falls through. A business struggles. A goal remains just out of reach.
In those moments, it is easy to focus on what was lost.
My father taught me to focus on what comes next.
That lesson became one of the foundations of Crab Creek Chronicles and remains one of the most important things I have carried with me throughout life.
Final Thoughts
Some lessons arrive in classrooms. Others arrive through experience.
For me, one of the most important lessons came from standing beside my father, looking across a field that would never be harvested.
At the time, I thought he was talking about Christmas.
Years later, I realized he was teaching me how to live.
FAQs
Is this story included in Crab Creek Chronicles?
Yes. This memory appears in the opening pages of Crab Creek Chronicles and serves as one of the foundational lessons of the book.
Why was the failed wheat crop so important?
The experience taught Bill Moos about risk, resilience, and accepting outcomes that cannot be controlled.
What is one of the main themes of Crab Creek Chronicles?
The importance of taking chances and learning from both success and failure is a recurring theme throughout the memoir.
Where can I purchase Crab Creek Chronicles?
The book is available in print, ebook, and audiobook formats through authorized retailers.