City Boy on the Farm

Gary said you can't miss it. Second road after town and turn left. I was there once before with Gary, driving so it shouldn't be too hard to find his farm.

It was early spring and the grid roads were slick with the thaw, but passable. My '63 Valiant should have little trouble.

“OK, that was Sedley - so next left.”

The road was much sloppier than I expected. I slid from side to side, sinking deeper in the mud.

“This doesn't look right. The road is supposed to be straight, but this one goes off at an angle. I'm in trouble.”

There was nowhere safe to turn around. I put the car in reverse and started to back down the road to the highway.

“Will I make it or am I doomed to bog down in the soft muck?”

I made it. Back on the highway. So much for Gary’s directions.

“I'll stop at the hotel and phone.”

"You city boy. That wasn't the turn, you took the back road. No one other than tractors come down the back road at this time of year," Gary scolded me.

"But you said the second turn. That was the second turn." I replied in protest.

"Second road, not second turn. That isn't a road. It’s a trail. Wait there and I’ll come and get you."

Gary came to town and I followed him down the grid road to the farm.

Strike one for the city boy.
……….

"Wake up. George needs some help." Gary was shaking me.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"I have to haul some grain with dad and George needs you to dive the tractor from town."

"I can't drive a tractor." I protested. "I've never even sat on a tractor."

"Good time to learn. See you later. George is downstairs waiting for you. We'll have breakfast when we are both back." And then he was gone.

"Push your foot here, shift gears like this, and never touch the brake, just keep going." George gave me a crash course on tractor driving. The thing was huge - a mower on the back and a front end loader - three times the length of my car.

"What about traffic? Shouldn't I stop for traffic?"

"You're in the country. The tractor is king. Just keep going."

Now I was on my own. I'm moved, through Sedley - no problem so far.

“Keep straight”, George had said.

“Whoa, there' the highway. Cars are coming. But I'm not supposed to stop.”

It worked. All the cars let me cross.

“Now I’m across. Wait. This is the same back road I almost got stuck on.”

"Only tractor's come down this road this time of year." Gary had told me.

“Well, I’m on a tractor.”

I was able to hold the road all the way to the grid road. Then home to the farm.

A base hit for the city kid.

"We'll make a farmer out of you yet." George said over a farm breakfast. Gary nodded in agreement.

(504 words)