I want a ride on a tractor…

Not just any Ol’ tractor but a very special tractor; one that might have been secretly a John Deer but painted to look like a Ford. I want to sit in an old wooden folding chair in a make-shift trailer attached to that tractor, riding with all my cousins on a loop around the world…in Gaylord, MI.

I promise to wait patiently…

I want to hear that familiar pipe-chugging engine from a distance knowing for certain that it’s coming for me.  I promise to wait patiently. I know the sound of that tractor from a afar, I know where it is, which field it’s working at and how long it will take to get to where I stand…waiting, patiently. I can tell every time it dips into a rut then rises back up with glory, I can tell by the sound. I’ve heard it a million times – I hear it now.

I promise to wait patiently…

I want to sway back and forth in my folding chair next to my cousins in the trailer of that tractor…there’s a slight chance we may actually topple over on one another (though we never did).  And sometimes I want to be the daredevil that sits on the back edge of the trailer.  I’ll jump off…and then run fast to jump back on, just like everyone else.  Great speed was not a prerequisite however a sense of adventure and some bravery was helpful.

I promise to wait patiently…

I want to watch the captain steer the tractor with baseball cap and pipe in tow, he always leans to one side. He downplays his heroic crusade and tells many tales about pretty Indian girls and bears lurking in the woods.

I want to be the one who gets to ride up front next and help steer the tractor.

I promise to wait patiently…

There is never a schedule for rides, a designated route for adventure, pick up point, length of journey or any guarantee that you’ll get dropped off at the same place where you’re picked up. And sometimes there might not be any wooden folding chairs to sit on.  It doesn’t matter; we know for sure that as long as our grandpa and his tractor are on the move he won’t forget about us.

I promise to wait patiently…

~The Urban Mountaineer