Small Town USA

To girls, the prom is probably the most exciting and looked forward to event of the school year. To my son and his cousin, however, the most exciting event is "Drive Your Tractor to School" Day. This was the first year Jeremiah and Ethan were able to participate in this unusual event, and it required quite a bit of preparation. First, the mowers had to come out of winter storage and be cleaned and serviced. Next, the decks had to be removed. Even more difficult was finding someone to loan us a trailer to haul the tractors to a point nearer the school. Finally, early on Friday morning (6:30), Jeremiah and Ethan were transported to the Cattaraugus Village line to begin their slow journey to school. They made it to school without incident, but I understand the police hassled a few of the kids about riding lawn mowers on the road! Some kids of course have larger farm tractors. The real adventure began when school was out. Duane was not back from work yet, so the boys decided to drive the mowers all the way to Ethan's house! Only a few blocks into the trip, sparks began coming from under Ethan's seat. Investigation revealed that the battery had slipped forward and the terminal was rubbing on something. The boys decided it wasn't safe to drive it any further, which afforded Jeremiah the great pleasure of towing Ethan's mower all the way home. Jeremiah has personalized his mower quite a bit, such as installing airhorns and various extra lights. He enjoyed waving and honking the airhorn at every passing vehicle. It took the boys about 1 1/2 hours to get home, and gave them a lifetime memory!