A Day in the Country

 

What do you do when you wake up to an absolutely beautiful crisp winter day? That's right..get out the tractor!!! At least that's what you do around here.What is it about tractors that is so fascinating to the male gender?...the mud?..the grease?..the feel of cold hard steel...or maybe it's just those awesome big tires!  Whatever it is, the boys come running when they hear the beautiful roar of the tractor engine starting up...

I have to say that my hubby is absolutely 'tractor happy' today.  Actually he's been suffering from a severe case of 'tractor envy' for some time now.  The gas-powered blower satisfied him for some time...but it just wasn't quite enough--he wanted something much bigger!

Well, I'd love to say that he got a tractor, but he didn't. What he did get though, was driving privileges for the neighbor's tractor. In exchange for keeping an eye on our neighbor's equipment (somebody was vandalizing his stuff), he told Tim he could use the tractor any time he liked! Oh my!  Frankly, without neighbors, we'd be in trouble out here. We have to look out for each other and help each other too.

Well, Tim had to give the tractor a little TLC but it runs great!  First, he fixed our driveway which had become almost unnavigable. That was a few weeks ago. But yesterday, he did his best to fix our road. It gets so eroded that you can hardly drive over it. When it rains, like it does all the time, it gets even worse!

The 'joy' of living out in the middle of nowhere is that the road is 'community maintained'.  That means which ever neighbor gets sick and tired of the ruts first (and also owns a tractor) finally goes out and scrapes the red dirt until it is flat again.

Fixing the road is a family activity that we all like to participate in in one way or another. Rebekah uses it as an excuse to take Tex out. The boys use the spare time between rock excavations to horse around and I just usually take pictures.

There are very large rocks in the road, which Tim discovers as he works.  The boys make quick work of removing them. But all the hard work is worth it when they are all done

. The best thing is that you don't need a four-wheeler to get home when they are finished.  It's a perfect way to spend a perfect day at our home in the country. Come back soon!