All Steamed Up part 3

I realized that there was a kid's tractor pull coming up. Husband wanted to go talk to the 'train guys', so I turned on my cell phone and took off for the pull.

There were ages from about 3-4 up to around 8. The goal was to pedal the tractor as far as possible, with the weight increasing on the back as it moved forward. 

The ones that stood out.  A tiny, tiny little boy, that wanted to try so badly, but with his tush on the seat, he couldn't reach the pedals.  He tried standing up, kicking, tossing his feet 'round and round, no luck.  The judges finally told him good try, and gave him a participation ribbon.  He looked confused, and his mom told him that he needed go get up, the next person was going to try.  He looked at the ribbon, and sort of smiled, then said "I did it, I got on a tractor!"  He was so happy to just have been on the (toy) tractor, I don't think he even understood exactly what he was doing...

Another young boy, pedaled like mad, and then he hit the limits of what he could pull so fast, the tractor locked up, tipped backwards, and dumped him on his back.  He looked more confused than anything, and his dad ran out to check on him.  Little guy was juuuust on the verge of tears, when the judge said, "Did you know you did the longest pull yet?"  

THAT snapped him out of it!  

He jumped up, and told Dad, "I pulled it way long, Daddy!"  Dad was grinning, kid was grinning, and he was skipping as he went out. 

Young girl had cowboy boots on.  She was going like sixty, and then hit a spot where it was hard going for her.  She pushed, and then her boot slipped off the pedal.  She adjusted, tried again, and the OTHER boot slipped off (slick soles).  Her mom came out, and the girl looked up and asked if she could take her shoes off.  Judge and Mom, simultaneously, "NO."  She tried once more, halfheartedly, and then both feet slipped.  The judge said it was good enough...  

As they were leaving, I heard her mumble to herself, "I could have gone farther barefoot."  

There was a parade of tractors, and while I didn't get pics of all of them, here is a few.  I don't swear to this, but I *think* the big wheel on the upper left, was to use when it was stationary, for powering devices, otherwise it was disengaged as a tractor.  However, it could also be a flywheel...

I can't remember the name of this one, but it could hold several people in the back.  It had a very, VERY loud whistle, that came in useful with some ding dong that was standing in the road, on a phone, oblivious...  

This is a Great grand daddy Case tractor.  It always amazes me that these were steam engines, run usually by a large fire in a hold, that went out in the hottest point of the year, to cut, swath and pick up dry hay, grain, what have you...  And, occasionally, you had problems with this.  

Eeep.

This one I took because it was a nicely restored Allis-Chalmers.  But mostly because it reminds me of going out on the tractor with my dad...  (But we didn't have the umbrella... And ours was red with cat prints all over it...)

Next, whistle stop at the train yard!

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Unless, of course, you aren't in the U.S., then have yourself a great Thursday, please!)

I was thinking of one of the most surprising, yet probably most fun Thanksgivings our family has had.  But it didn't start that way...

It didn't start so great, Grandpa had died, and we made a trip to Arizona to help Grandma "get things in order".  We had not had a great drive home, got lost, generally, it was a long, somewhat quiet, low key trip.

Mom realized we were coming home on Thanksgiving, and was really down about the fact she hadn't made provisions for this, which tells you what a general not great trip it was.  We all just ruminated in the truck, hoping to get home soon...

We arrived home, and Husband (who had not gone with us), met us at the door, and said, "Dinner's ready!"  We were ready for almost anything, Husband is a carb loader, and I figured it would be his trademark Cheese Soup.*  SOMEHOW, the man had found the only pizza place open in this area on Thanksgiving, and had picked up 2 pizzas.  We grabbed some sodas from the fridge, and had a great meal, Husband filling us in on what he'd been up to while we were gone, (work, mostly), and we filled him in on what had happened with our trip...  To this day, I am so happy that Husband had the presence of mind to do that.

_________________________________________________

Another Thanksgiving I will always remember is when I was fairly young, we actually had no "children's table".  This was a problem, in that we had nearly all the family members there at Grandma M's house.  Great Grandma S was there, too,with me, packed in the back.  We were all seated, cheek to jowl, with the usual figuring for the lefties, and after everyone was seated at the now woefully packed table, full as ticks, and not really ready to move, Great Grandma S needed to go to the restroom.  Grandma M and a couple others had stood up, taking dishes into the kitchen.  Great Grandma said she needed to get up.  Grandma told her that she could wait.

Next thing I see, is Great Grandma sliding down the chair, onto the floor, and crawling out to the other side of the table, getting up, dusting off her knees, and trotting off to the bathroom, while Grandma M was fuming. (Grandma M has always been one for propriety, and one does NOT crawl on the floor, unless one is under a year old.)  I had to hold my breath, because I wanted to laugh like crazy, but knew it wouldn't go over well...   But I still snickered.

Great Grandma told me later, only do that in emergencies.  I still miss her, she was so cool.
_______________________________________________________

My most recent amusement with Thanksgiving was just last year.  I was looking in the cooler at the local grocery, and the poor clerk must have just been on the edge with 'turkey talk'.  A lady came in, poked him in the arm,  (this was the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING), that she needed two 40 pound turkeys, please, she had a large group coming to her house.

I swear, I saw his neck veins spasm, and one eye flicker rapidly as he turned, and as politely as he could muster, "Lady, you don't need turkeys.  You need an OSTRICH."

Bless him, he then did show her the largest turkeys they had, along with some suggestions on possibly using hams or some other meat pre-cooked, so she would have enough for her group.

But I still have an image of this ostrich on a rotisserie...



*Husband's Cheese Soup.

Take one box Velveeta. Unwrap.  Heat.  Get spoon. Eat.

(Editor's note: Ick.)


P.S, thank you for all the recent comments, haven't been around the computer much, so haven't replied...