Today’s ride was our trusty Ford 5000 tractor. It needed a jump from my car before it finally roared to life and belched a cloud of gray diesel fumes from its stack.
I needed to finish harrowing the horse pasture and wanted to get it done before the rain that was predicted. I love harrowing, actually, love just about anything that gets me on the tractor, whether it’s brush hogging, mowing, raking, and baling hay, or towing kids around in trailer full of sweet-smelling straw.
The horse pasture is special fun, though, because, well, the horses are there, and they always manage to position themselves right where I need to be, then suddenly take off at a gallop as I approach. As if they didn’t hear or see the tractor coming. But they grow bored with this game pretty quick, especially when there’s minty-green fresh spring grass to be had.
And then there’s the sense of satisfaction. I know not everyone can relate to the joy of seeing big piles of dried manure broken up and spread across the field in tiny pieces, but well, there you go. When you’re a farmer, even a part-timer, like me, you learn to appreciate the little things.
As you can see from the picture, our tractor is an old, no-frills model. Some days, like when its 90 degrees out and the sun is baking my head and my eyes sting from the sweat, I wish for an enclosed cab and AC. But most of the time, I like being out in the air, moving at a civilized pace, my ear protectors firmly in place to drown out the worst of the noise.
It is time to think, or to drift, and create new stories.
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