Tractor races by a full harvest moon.

Good Morning from the knolltop. It's breezy and considerably warmer than yesterday. I was hot in my turtleneck and sweatshirt this morning. The moon is still big and bright and making things much lighter at 4:30 am.

Last night I went on a moonlit tractor ride. Well, it was actually a tractor race. I brought my "A" up from the tractor barn because I hadn't started it in a while and all the mechanics say you need to start your tractor regularly to keep it running right...okay...I'll go along with that.

After my walk I went down and slid the doors open to the barn. The smell of oil-soaked dirt and gas poured out of the doors and I was again taken back to my younger days in Grandpa Peckens farm equipment dealership, otherwise known as "the shop." It's a great smell!

I started the ol' girl up and she sounded just as wonderful as the last time I drove her. I drove her up to the barn and parked it right outside the stable so I could see her while we were milking.

While washing the pipeline I heard a loud noise outside and it was Luke on his Farmall. I peered out and he said with a big smile, "Let's race!" Now Big Daddy frowns on such frolics....but me....I'm always ready for an old fashioned tractor race.

I finished up my chores and went out to where he was waiting. By this time, everyone had headed in the house and it was dark, cool, breezy and the big harvest moon was shining down on us. Since I have no lights on my tractor that work, I had to rely on Luke and the moonlight.

We headed up the hill and down the road for a little ways. He stopped halfway down the road and turned around and I followed suit. I lined up next to him and he had a big smile on his face. He counted us down and I took off like a shot leaving him in my....smoke. My lead lasted all of about 20 feet as he swiftly took over and sped down the road and beat me by a mile. Yes, his tractor is faster, but it's also got two more spark plugs than mine...doesn't that mean something?

I picked up Jake and the way down to the barn and he drove it the rest of the way. When we turned to park it in the barn, Luke was standing there and wouldn't move until Jake got out of the drivers seat. I guess he didn't trust Jake to slowly drive the tractor into the barn and park it without crashing into the "M."

As we walked up to the house on the cool October night we pulled up our hoods and I tried to explain why my tractor was so slow but they wouldn't cut me any slack. Jake was totally disgusted that my John Deere wasn't as fast as the "M" and we decided tomorrow night we'd have a slow race....I'm sure to win that!