Feeling a bit nostalgic tonight. I’m in the dark spreading some dirt before the rain tomorrow. I have the Christmas lights on the house and the moonlight to see with. I’m thankful to have borrowed this tractor. See this tractor is my dads and my dad used it for much of my life to provide for our family. He bought it new when I was probably five or six years old and used it daily for many years. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy purchase back then but I certainly believe it paid off for our family. Many summers as a kid I spent on the ground at job sites with a shovel or a rake in my hand while dad drove this very tractor. I remember being hot and tired and wondering why dad was so sweaty and tired at the end of the day when all he did was ride a tractor all day. I mean he was sitting down for crying out loud. That’s something we weren’t allowed to do! We were the ones doing all the manual labor in this Louisiana heat and humidity. It really made me more mad than it should have. Of course as I got older and wiser, I realized that tractor work was in fact work. And it takes mental AND physical labor. Let’s face it, you don’t have to be that bright to work a shovel. That’s where the whole saying ‘strong back weak mind’ comes from. That is a saying, right? I’ve heard it said quite a few times in my day.

Anyway, tonight I’m driving this Kubota in the dark spreading this dirt. I’m sweating. It’s the middle of December but it’s Louisiana so it’s a warm 70 degrees. Every bump I hit at just the wrong angle pops my back and I’m reminded of my dad working so hard with this tractor all those years. I understand now why his back hurt. I’ll probably have a backache for the next day or two. And yet I’m thankful for this opportunity and I know it came from lots of people’s long hours and hard work. I mean, the dirt guy just delivered another load nearly 2 hours after dark. On a Friday night.

You’re probably wondering why I don’t just turn on the headlights right? Yes Kubota had headlights on this model in 1992. Unfortunately, this specific tractor no longer has its headlights and that’s a story in itself. See many years ago dad let this kid drive the tractor in the woods. That kid came to a small pine tree laying across the trail about three or four feet off the ground. Any other time, this may have been a problem. Not for this Kubota! See dad had just welded a heavy duty steel bumper on the front of this bad boy. Like most kids, he thought anything dad built was indestructible. After all, this was some thick heavy gauge steel. It had to be made to push stuff out of the way. After a gentle push, then ramming the tree a few times, this kid decided one hard steady push was what this tree needed to move. Well, the tree didn’t move. Instead that nice Kubota pushed so hard against a stationary, maybe slightly large, tree that it snapped the welds at the base of the bumper and sent that heavy duty bumper with the large angle iron and thick steel plate right through the headlights, through the grill, through the radiator, bent the hood and both side panels, and broke no telling what else. Dad was mad. And rightfully so. This tractor provided for our family. So the radiator was fixed and any other necessary components to get the tractor back in service. Apparently this bumper did have a purpose. It was to add weight to the front of the tractor. Not to look cool and push things like I thought.

Now, here we are some 25 or so years later and this tractor is still getting things done for our family. The side panels are still bent. Though they will latch. Kind of. The grill is bent but it’s been reattached. I know our kids will probably do stuff like this too as they grow up. I’ll probably get madder than a wet hen. My dad will probably be sitting back laughing and grinning like a possum eating a sweet tater. He’ll say something about that apple not falling far from the tree as my kids tear something up. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I will hopefully get over it just like he did. Well maybe a little faster. 😁