A date with John Deere. The tractor came on a huge truck early Wednesday morning. Ian could not have been more thrilled with his new toy. George, the salesman and our tractor tutor spent time with each of us explaining the engine and the operation. We’ll wait until winter to learn about snowplowing. I’ll leave that up to Ian.
All went well until later in the day when Ian was mowing the upper meadow. I returned from town to find Ian nowhere in sight, but the large green John Deere was up the hill, tethered to a tree, nose pointing into the pond. Boards were wedged under the back tires. I found Ian sitting on the front porch with a glass of water in hand. “Oh, my gosh, what happened?” I asked. He replied, “I can’t get it out; the tires just spin. Will you get on and try backing it out while I stand in front and put a wedge under the front?”
I had visions of running over my husband, killing him or maiming him for life and having to play nursemaid for our retirement years. Would I go to trial? This was way too much responsibility. My heart was pounding and my hands shaking. I prayed out loud, “Jesus, help us solve this problem. Help!” I strapped on the seat belt, gritted my teeth and started the engine. I gently pressed the reverse pedal. The tires spun. Nothing else moved. It did not slide forward into Ian. I got off and said I would try the neighbor men, the ones who had towed me up the hill. It would be another neighborhood bonding experience—flatlanders from Wisconsin bailed out by the locals.
I got inside and the phone was dead. This was not going well. I grabbed my cell phone and the phone numbers and headed out to hike up the hill where I could get a signal. As I passed the hillside, I heard the tractor engine. Oh, no, he won’t give up! As I looked up, I was surprised to see Ian backing up the tractor. “What did you do?” I yelled. “It wasn’t in four wheel drive!” he yelled. Dare I say it was an answer to prayer? We celebrated the rest of the day!
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