There is something about sitting on a tractor working a field that is soothing and tiring at the same time. Although my days of working as a farmhand passed long ago when I was a teenager, I miss the times I was able to ride or drive the small melon tractors.
On occcasion when I am visiting with my cousin, who is almost like a brother, I will help him mow a property, which belongs to another cousin of ours. That is me in the photo on an old antique Allis-Chalmers tractor mowing the grass around the property.
It can be a bumpy ride, especially on those old tractors. They really weren't built for comfort. But, it feels good to the soul mowing down that grass and watching the progress you make along the way.
We utilie the property for several things, or at least my cousing does. I mostly use it for target practice when I am visiting there. My cousing usess it to store old tractors and other items in the old quonset hut made out of an oil tank that was cut in half by my Uncle many decades ago.
My couisn has also planted a garden on it a time or two, but he found he was a little too busy to tend to one any longer so no longer plants one there. It was quite large. So large he couldn;'t even give away all the produce. The garden took up about half of the picture you see above.
Anyway, there is much story to the land you see, but I won't go into that. It is more about the work that we put into it and others have put into it over the years.
I forgot how much I actually enjoy the fruits of labor. There is nothing like it and it seems the harder the labor, the more enjoyment I get from the fruits of it.
Although I no longer labor much at all anymore, unless you consider my short walks labor, I still value it. There is a respect I have for the blue collar, get in the dirt, sweat your ass off worker that earns their dollar.
Anyway, I hope to get up to my cousins in a couple weeks. I may get on the tractor or maybe not. Either way, I am sure we will get into something that will get us dirty. We always do, but we always end up loving it after and drinking a few beers as our reward.
For now, the extent of my labor today will be the continuing battle with my garage. Have a good week peeople!
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes: -All content is mine unless otherwise annotated. -Images are my own unless otherwise noted. -Photos edited using MS Paint and/or iPhone SE. -Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.