Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Still Running After All These Years

I was delighted to find this old Ford one ton truck in behind a cluster of storage bins on my cousin's farm. When my grandfather bought it new in the early fifties, My Uncle Leonard took his future wife on their first date in it. A few years later, I had this experience in it, and I quote from my memoirs: "My absolutely favourite farm memory happened in late summer. It must have been an early harvest because I was not yet back in school. I was allowed to go to the field at mealtime when the aunties would bring a picnic lunch out to the ’men’ who stopped just long enough to eat and then jumped right back on the combines. The picnics I was familiar with were sandwiches, some Kool-Aid, an apple and a cookie or two. These were huge hot dinners, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies and dessert. The blanket or table cloth was spread across the top of the stubble and we would flatten it out and find a level spot to place our plates. The sun was hot and we all cowered into the shade of the truck or one of the combines. I was really proud to be counted as one of the ’men’, or at least I was made to feel that way."


"That night, the weather held and it was decided that the combines would continue working through the night. I got to go with Uncle Leonard and sat in the red Ford, the one that we all rode on in 2001 at the Osler Centennial. We were facing Saskatoon, near Warman, and we could see the lights of the city in the distance. If I recall correctly, there was a radio in the truck and we were getting stations from deep in the USA. The combines would make a few rounds and then we would pull alongside and the grain would spew into the truck box. What a thrill for a little kid who grew up in town. I sincerely believe that it was during that star filled night, the combine lights filtering through the grain dust, the radio softy playing country music through the glow of the dashboard lights, that I bonded with my Uncle Leonard."
 
He has always been a special uncle, my mother's youngest brother, and we have been in contact over the years and now email each other regularly. This old Ford just might outlast both of us as Garry and Bruce tell me that they still use it. Yes, it is still a functioning farm work truck. Now that is "Ford Tuff". Amazing!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the old Ford is still doing some chores around the farm. It is actually a two ton 1952. My dad purchased it new and a 200 bushel grain box was built on the chasis. The first year it did not have a hydraulic hoist to lift the box while unloading grain. I had to shovel most of the grain out of the end gate into the auger. In 1953 brother Dave installed the hydraulic hoist which for me was like a big gift. No more shoveling to the end gate, just watch the grain slide off. Henry Ford would be proud to see the old, not so smooth riding truck still in service. LB

Terry said...

I sometimes wonder how many gallons of paint I have applied over the years. Now I am wondering how many bushels of wheat you have shovelled in your time. Some day when that truck is retired, it should be hoisted onto and welded to a steel post at the farm gate. I have seen this kind of thing often in my travels through the prairies. That would be better than burying it.