1952 FarmAll Super C

Day 214: I hadn't intended to go out today, but I was bored...bored, and I needed to return a product I'd purchased without realizing that some scum-sucking lowlife had opened the package to remove the battery before I bought it. I sat around the house trying to convince myself I should stay home, but around 11 AM, boredom won out over gas budget and off I went. As long as I was going to be out, I thought I might try to pick up a few of the "items" for a photo scavenger hunt, figuring I may be one of very few people who could complete it with a real pig instead of a plastic one. However, I hadn't factored rain into the equation.

I remembered a couple of spots where I'd seen pigs, and in any event, I like driving back roads where I can straddle the yellow line. Alas, my pig hunt left me porkless, but for having seen one old sow's back turned to the weather as she slept inside her shelter. Pigs are smart animals, unlike photographers who simply will go out in the rain. In one last-ditch attempt to find swine, I set off down a five-mile long dead end road, eyes scanning both sides of the route. Just seconds from the end of the road, I spotted this beauty.

My dad drove a FarmAll, so I'm...well, "biased" would be a fair assessment. And I have a friend who restores these red machines. I had to get a picture, but the tractor was parked adjacent to a rather nice home, rather than out in a convenient field. I did something I wouldn't ordinarily do: I went up and rang the doorbell. After a long few minutes and no response, I was ready to leave, but a woman came 'round from behind the house and said rather sharply, "Can I help you with something?" I replied, "Oh, yes!" and launched into a spiel about my dad. She graciously allowed me access to the tractor, and as we talked, I learned that her husband had only recently finished its restoration.

Still pigless, I decided I was done for the day, but as it happens, "tractor" was also on the scavenger hunt list for the month. Who says you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear...even when you can't find the sow!