A Man and His Tractor
“Our place has greatly transformed thanks to my old orange friend, a grand steed, and the knight that rides her!”
The Story Behind This Story
When we started The Dirt Farm, we had a wheelbarrow, shovels and hoes, picks and rakes, and lots of weeds that needed to be pulled and dirt that needed to be moved. It takes a LOT longer to do anything with only hand tools. Dirt Farmer Jay had always wanted a tractor but “it wasn’t in the budget.” Then one day, the phone rang and everything changed…
Dirt Farmer Maggie, March 2021
A Man and His Tractor
It finally happened. Jay got a tractor. Not just any tractor, no. This is a Kubota - orange, rugged, powerful, a workhorse, man’s best friend…at least THIS man.
It belonged to his Mom and Dad. I remember the day he first laid eyes on this thing of beauty. We all lived in Arizona and his parents had just purchased it from some friends. There was no doubt that Jay was more excited about their newly acquired piece of equipment than both of them put together. He did a great job of being “happy for his dad” and hiding all the envy that took over his entire body. He told his parents that very day that “if they ever wanted to sell the Kubota, he wanted first dibs on the purchase.”
“Many men have wanted things, but few men have ever wanted something as much as Jay wanted that Kubota.”
After we moved to Utah, Jay would inquire about the tractor during most phone calls back home for the next year or two that it lived with Mom and Dad – just to make sure they were taking care of it and hadn’t forgotten his offer to purchase.
Then one day, the call came - the call he’d been waiting so semi-patiently for. They had decided to sell him the tractor – and not only sell it, but they would also deliver it, 850 miles, uphill, and he would have it in his possession before the month ended.
Many men have wanted things, but few men have ever wanted something as much as Jay wanted that Kubota. He nearly counted the hours and marked the passing of time with revelations like “It will never be Sunday again without a tractor” or “I will never go to sleep again without a tractor”. Finally, it came, and his world became complete. As he sat down on that vinyl seat for the first time, the two became one – from that moment, there was a bond so strong that wind, rain, dinner time or darkness could not break it.
Our place has greatly transformed thanks to my old orange friend, a grand steed, and the knight that rides her!
As I watch him sleeping next to me, exhausted from another marathon of moving dirt way past dark (again) after a full day at the office, I have to smile. It feels good to see him so happy, finally, after waiting so many years – years of talking about, planning for, and dreaming of what has now become his reality.
A man and his tractor – what a marriage made in Heaven! Thanks, Lord for yet one more rich blessing, and…oh yeah…thanks for the tractor too!
