Of all the gin joints in all the world ...

I wish. (Paraphrased from Casablanca)

I ended up at a tractor pull the other night.

You know, if anyone had told me that someday I would find myself up until 11:30 PM at a tractor pull, I would have said they were crazy.

Guess I’m the crazy one.

A friend of my DH belongs to the Illinois Tractor Pullers Association (ITPA) and last night we went to Georgetown IL to the county fair (much better than the Champaign IL fair I went to a few weeks ago – my first tractor pull) and watched him compete. He did well, coming in second and going a distance of just over 306 feet.

Now for those of you that don’t know (like me as of three weeks ago), a tractor pull is where a tractor pulls a trailer with a weighted slide on it. The slide begins at the back of the trailer and moves forward as the trailer is pulled. Once it reaches the end of the trailer, the front wheels actually fold up and the tractor is pulling a trailer that is digging itself into the ground. Whoever drives the longest distance wins. It’s all about inertia, velocity, friction and a bunch of other physics terms I never did quite get the hang of.

The tractors are divided up into different classes. The more beginner classes are like Grandpa’s old tractor and gets the kids started. The classes move up by weight, ending up with our friend’s category, the 5800 Modified class, where the tractors look like fire-breathing dragons – indy cars on steroids. The two back tires are enormous tractor tires, taller than me. The front tires look like itty-bitty wagon wheels in comparison, although they would probably fit my husband’s truck easily. And are these tractors LOUD.

I had to laugh though. I was watching one of the earlier classes, one where the tractors look like they were just driven off the farm until you see them pull. Then you wonder how much acreage can be plowed driving 80 miles an hour (I’m exaggerating, but they will MOVE). Obviously these guys don’t use the same tractor to both farm and compete. These are super-suped up tractors. Watching these guys tearing down the strip, throwing gears like there is no tomorrow puts a hilarious image in my head. Farmer Bob revs up his ride and decides to raise a little dust. He opens it up and goes tearing down the pasture, throwing levers to switch gears as he speeds along, with cows, pigs and sheep being tossed up in his wake.

And what did I take home with me from the experience? Remember that scene in Lethal Weapon 2 where Riggs brings down the stilt house with his GMC truck? That just might be a handy talent for a heroine to have. To drive some thing big and bad that creates a lot of destruction. Kinda like Evanovich’s Barney in Motor Mouth, or Stephanie in Ranger’s big 4x4.

My DH said the funniest thing after we tucked in the DSS (Dear Step-Son). He hugged me tight and told me I smelled good. As in fuel and oil and fresh dirt.

Golly, he says the sweetest things.