...an accidental tractor pull...

i know. i know. 

 how does one just accidentally show up at a tractor pull?

here.s the story

it all started one recent saturday morning when i set out with my two daughters on a photo treasure hunt.  each loaded with a camera and a list of things to photograph, we headed to a local historical park that is known for it.s quaint old buildings and wild chickens 

(which i am obsessed with as of late)

(i mean honestly...isn.t he wonderful?)

we were surprised when we arrived to see that the park was closed for the "annual tractor and steam engine festival"...closed unless we paid the entrance fee which i was not about to do.

until...

i peeked in and saw all sorts of wonderful "old" things.  old people.  

old tractors.  old paint chipping off said old tractors (another obsession of mine).  fascinating old treasures up for auction...  

the disappointed look on my girls faces had me whippin out my wallet 

right behind billy-bob dwayne and his sweetheart earlene-jo.

(not their real names of course)

i knew i had made the right decision when the first thing i saw 

was a chorus line of elderly farmer folk, 

down right enamored with the pulling capacity of the new john- deere 620.

...then art through the lens began.

for some of you, this may be "old hat" but i was raised on a ski slope, 

not in the fields. so i was like a kid in a candy store.

these darling farmers get together for some 

good ol noise makin, dirt flyin, smoke sailing competition.

these guys holler lots of funny things and tell everyone what to do.

these guys wait until it.s their turn to hook their "babies" up to the sled.

this is the fellow that "mans" the sled.

the tractors each get a turn to pull the sled along a track..(dirt)

the sled gets harder to pull the farther they go.

this guys waves a flag when the tractor sounds like it.s gonna blow.up.

and these guys sit idle...but thrilled...on bales of hay, half a toothpick hanging out the corner of their mouth, donning their favorite farm equipment hat bought...

from wally!

the girls and i had a "rootin-tootin" good time...

...with the good old boys and their rusty toys!

(if you.ve actually read this far..i highly recommend headin on over to your nearest tractor pull...

and bring your camera.  you won.t be disappointed.)