Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Errs Above the Ground

My victim. 
Dad had bought a new tractor.
Painted bright yellow, it was a thing of real beauty.
Or so the men in my family thought.
Pffff. Men.
It was parked proudly between the shop (formerly our home - see here) and the pasture, wherein my horse was . . . erm . . . pastured.
The tractor stood there in lonely glory, awaiting the delivery of two more back wheels.
Now it was unheard of, at that time, for a tractor to have more than the requisite two.
Back wheels, that is.
But this one did.
Or soon would have.
Each of the existing wheels had three feet of extra axle sticking out in happy anticipation.
This is important.
And I didn't care. I was getting my horse ready for a show.
I needed to load up my tack.
This entailed maneuvering the car between the pasture fence and the shed door.
Easily done.
I could see the tractor.
I could see the fence.
I could see the shed.
All was well.
Back.
Back.
Back.
Crunch.
What on earth had I hit?
There was the shed.
There was the tractor.
There was the fence.
All in perfect sight.
 I pulled forward and got out to inspect the damage.
I should point out here that this was the same car that I had only recently filled with diesel fuel. My stock had dropped considerably over that event and hadn't had the chance to rise very far. This new stunt guaranteed that it would never rise again.
Sigh.
I walked to the back of the car.
To see six inches of extra axle poking into the rear car fender.
Oh.
The extra axle.
That would, one day, support extra wheels.
In all of my careful looking, I had forgotten to look up.
To the stupid axle hanging in the air three and a half feet above the ground.
Rats.
Once more, in high dudgeon, I drove to the house to show my dad.
Who labeled me a driving menace.
He was right.

16 comments:

  1. Hey....it could have happened to anybody.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad to hear you say that. I wish daddy could have heard! :)

      Delete
  2. Good thing you're there and I'm here. Don't think I'd want to see you coming down the road towards me. Well, unless practice has done you quite a lot of good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And why didn't someone (not you) put a red flag on that sticky-out part when they left the tractor there? It's clearly not your fault. Well, it's clear to me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I just realized what you did there with the title - well done :)

      Delete
    2. Ha! I agree! Where was that humongous red flag?
      I'm glad you liked the title. I try really hard to find something you will think clever! I do it for you, Jenny!

      Delete
    3. I love your titles and labels! Thank you. I wouldn't have known "errs" as "airs" without my daughter's influence. I was so pleased with myself for understanding the reference :)

      Delete
  4. That mean ol' tractor shoved that axle out when you weren't looking....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sigh.
    I like George's theory. My partner feels like that about horses. If there is a single car accident on a country road he tells me that there will be a horse in a nearby paddock. Snickering...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm surprised George, the horse-hater, didn't come up with that theory!

      Delete
  6. The claimant was driving when a tree came out of nowhere and hit her...

    ReplyDelete

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