A Different Culture

Last Friday and Saturday I had a "cultural" experience. This city girl spent two days in as rural a setting as you can get. I went to the Almelund Threshing Show. I saw more old tractors and farm machinery there than you can imagine. I think that the rule was that they had to be older than 1956. My circular sock knitting machine was made in 1922 so that's why I was there. Deb and Pete demonstrate every year at this show and several others but Deb was at the IOLI convention - the national lace makers convention - and I didn't go this year. So Deb asked if I would assist Pete in demonstrating the sock machines. Pete made striped scarves and let the kids crank them and I was brave enough to make a pair of shortie socks. I let the kids crank on the straight areas. I had a blast!! I surprised myself. I know that I like demonstrating because I demonstrate lace making for the Minnesota Lace Society but what I didn't know was how fascinated I would be by all those old farm machines. Some of them were run by steam engines and were huge. Almost scary even! At 1:30 each day there was a parade of tractors - it seemed like hundreds of them - and I abandoned Pete and went to watch it both days. Now I've been a visitor on a farm, in fact my Dad was raised on one, and the Compadre has several relatives that have or had farms but this was so cool. I've never seen things like this.











Or can you imagine this coming down the road at you!










Some of them were being driven by teenage guys with girls riding along. Can you imagine your everyday city girl riding a tractor with this name!











There were tractors driven by women, teenage girls, and even one with a baby seat! So cool.










The only thing that made me sad was that I wish I had known about things like this before my Dad died. He would have just loved it. But maybe there's a little bit of the farmer in me through him because I would be happy to go back again next year!