Tractors for Tuesday

My dad Fourth of July 2012. Driving his father's 1943.

I don't know what it is about parades of men on tractors.  It just tears me up.  Maybe because I know some of these fellows, or men a bit like them.  Some who are short on words and long on works, and others who could talk to you for an hour or two at Ames Supply feed store on a Saturday.  With calloused hands that can fix anything that is broke down, they may surprise you with big, big hearts, and a sensitivity to match. To be in a parade seems so flamboyant and joyous and that perhaps is why it kills me, in a good way.  Am I the only one who is tearing up at parades?  These images are all from the parade in Wiscasset, Maine a few weeks ago.

My Uncle John, not a tractor but in the same spirit!

This fellow is smart. He has a fire extinguisher.

This fellow had set up a float showcasing an engine that appeared
to be run by stuffed monkeys. Obviously a big hit with Miss B.

Anyhoo, every summer in a nearby town there is an Antique Tractor and Engine Show.  Last summer we enjoyed seeing all the tractors around town. It was awesome. It felt like we had slipped back in time. Antique tractors at the gas station, on trailers parked along Main St.  This year we are hoping to actually go to the show, July 27th-29th in Eliot, Maine.  Maybe this is just the ticket to get my dad to pay us a visit.

And while on the subject of tractors who could forget the Tractor Chicken scene in Footloose?  Happy Tuesday folks!