[AT] I've Had It ALL....... (OT)

[Dean Vinson]

Dave, that's a great video--thanks for posting it.

I'm feeling thankful myself this evening; I spent the afternoon cleaning out my old barn and using my Super M and little wagon to haul the manure off to my wife's garden.  While loading the wagon and contemplating the manual unloading process, I remembered an old photo of a similar scene from some years ago and so went to get my camera.   The attached photo is a collage of the old and new scenes.

In the late 90s I lived in town but had a late 53 Super M that I kept at my dad's farm, and dreamed of the day when I could move to an old farm of my own.   I chatted about such things with some of you folks here on this forum, which had only recently come to my pleasantly-surprised attention.  Once a year or so, when life's stresses seemed particularly heavy, I'd take some vacation days and go up to my dad's farm and work.  Not work like what paid my bills and kept my young family fed, but work like I needed:  Physical, tangible, free of spreadsheets and telephones, tiring of body but refreshing of mind.

20 years later I'm on my own little farm, with a late 53 Super M that's a mighty close brother to the one I'd had back then.  My path to this place was longer than I'd hoped, and, being real life rather than a daydream, involved some twists and turns I wouldn't care to repeat.  Paying the bills still involves spreadsheets and telephones.  But I'm here, married to a good woman who's my best friend, and my kids have grown into the kind of young adults that give me hope in an often-depressing world, and a clean barn, tired muscles, and a faithful old workhorse of a tractor still add up to a good day.

I don't post much on this list anymore, but I read it pretty often and am grateful to Spencer and to the many fine folks, past and present, who've made it such an enduringly good thing.

Dean Vinson
Saint Paris, Ohio


-----Original Message-----
From: Dave
Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 11:27 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group ; The SEL email discussion list
Subject: [AT] I've Had It ALL....... (OT)

……and all of you on the ATIS Lists have been a big part of the ALL! THANKS! 
See: https://biggeekdad.com/2013/11/giving-thanks/
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