a childhood memory revisited...and other such ramblings

I just returned from the NW of this beautiful state...a visit with my parents. Sometimes I forget how much of a country girl I am at heart. Now, I'm not hard core like some people I grew up with. But there is something about the rolling tree-covered hills, browning cornstalks, even the smell of the air that resonates deep in my soul. It resonated so deeply this time, that I actually put my cowboy hat on where it remained the final two hours of my trip. My parents, who had never seen me voluntarily wear a cowboy hat, were moderately shocked. But that may have also been the ginormous aviator glasses I have taken to wearing these days. (Both pieces of accessory were won at camp this summer. I know..I never win anything and then I win aviator glasses and a cowboy hat.)

Over the weekend, my dad and I made the trip up to visit my sister and nephew (who is still super cute!). The purpose of the trip was so that my sister could treat my dad to the Outlaw Tractor Pull at the Nebraska State Fair, one of dad's favorite things to do. (For those of you that have no clue what I'm talking about...a tractor pull is when tractors with big engines and such pull a weight down a track. The further they pull the closer the weight moves making it heavier and harder to pull. The goal is to pull the farthest. A "full pull" is 310 feet.)

As the engines roared and black smoke drifted, I was reminded of the many times that Dad and I traveled to see the great tractors. Mom would always pack us food and we would make the trip up and back in a day. One time, she packed us oranges that turned out to be rather sour. Dad decided to fling the whole bag of sliced oranges out the car window while we were driving on the interstate. Of course, they landed on the car that was passing us!

At the time, I didn't really understand much...I knew what a "full pull" was, and I understood the main idea...but never the did quite get the difference between the classes and what had really been modified on the tractors (I actually am not mechanically inclined so I still don't understand the nitty gritty of that)

THIS YEAR however, was different and a lot of fun. I got to ask Dad a lot of questions about the tractors, truely understand more of what was going on, and scream when Smokin'Hot Deere pulled a 278 to beat this season's leader, Big Temptation. (Check out these links to see what a pullin' tractor looks like! Smokin' Hot Deere has the cool smoke coming out of it!) It times like this that makes you want to put on the cowboy hat, run to the side of the tractor, and be the girl that the young, hot driver kisses after his winning run! (However, most of the drivers are not young and hot..hehe.) It's better than NASCAR!