Drive a Tractor

“There I was, a mere slip of a boy, hanging onto the back of the ancient 1930s (putt-putt) John Deere Model B like a tick. While in (slow)motion, Mr. Yoder suddenly receives a heavenly twitter that I should now be the one driving. He slides off the seat, grabs me, sets me on the throne and jumps off. So much for Driver’s Ed. I can still see him standing there, very slowly receding into the distance...”

“I remember the first time I drove a tractor. I was sitting on my uncle's lap on his [either] Massey-Harris or Int'l and he let me steer it going down the road. I will never forget that. This would have been in 1955. Around the same time, my uncle and older cousin were shocking wheat the old way; I remember seeing it in the field. Then they let me "drive" the tractor, idling in low in the hayfield as they threw bales on the wagon. I couldn't even reach the clutch but just steering it around all by yourself was pretty cool at 5 or 6.”