Speaking From The Ranch: Don’t Drive the Tractor into the Pond!

John Deer Mower

Soon after acquiring “old Dogwood” in 2003, the first piece of equipment we bought was the tractor. Actually it was the topside of John Deere’s riding mowers, the next size up was a real tractor. That poor mower/tractor has taken a lot of abuse: from being driven into the pond, getting stuck in the mud, mowing blades stuck in and bent by tree roots, to nephews riding it around the field on cruise control for fun.

Let’s get the driving the tractor into the pond story over with as it was not one of my proudest moments. Water is supplied to the pond by rainfall and runoff from the pasture to the east. We also believe there is natural seep or small spring feeding the pond because the water never drops below a certain level, even in drought conditions. The west bank of the pond is a little steep as it is the dam that keeps the water from flowing out the other side. One day I was just mowing along, minding my own business, probably in too much of a relaxed state of mind. I came over the dam heading toward the pond’s edge. Usually, I go about half way down, put the mower in reverse and move on without any problem. This time, I went a little more than half way down and gravity took hold and did its thing and the mower starting rolling towards the water. When I tried to put the mower in reverse, it keep going forward! It slowly rolled into the mud and in what seemed like slow motion, I watched the front end go into the water. I killed the engine and it kept rolling until I finally was able to get the brake set. Only the front end went in the water but we had to tie a rope on the back of Ranger to pull it out. Nothing was damaged or hurt, except my pride.

The pond without the tractor in it

I must admit, there is a certain peacefulness, a Forrest Gump like serenity, to just mowing the grass on a riding mower. The peacefulness comes from the simplicity of the task of just mowing the grass although some decisions take some thought. For instance, at the beginning of the task, I have to decide if I am going to mow in a square pattern or go back and forth in lines or do some wild and crazy pattern. Since Dogwood Ranch (the portion we keep mowed, the “civilized area”) has many trees, periodically during the mowing process there a decision point on which way to go around the tree, right or left. Sometimes I decide to circle close and go all around the tree, twice. Sometimes I mix it up, go right around the first tree and left around the next, but no matter which way I chose, or what mow pattern is used it really doesn’t matter, so I go with what I feel like doing at the moment. There are just not too many things in life that I feel free to do just because I feel like it.

Mowing is also a satisfactory task. At the end of the day, I look out over the two acres just mowed and I see the results of my labor right away and it looks good. In fact, even during the mowing, there is something satisfying about the dramatic swath of mowed grass next to the tall un-mowed grass I’m about to cut down. I do not get that satisfaction in my “day job” shuffling paper, managing hordes of email each day, sitting in meetings that often drone on much to long and talking on the telephone. At the end of a long day in my day job, it is difficult to tell what all of my hard work accomplished because it is not a tangible thing. There is nothing I can see that I did before I turn out the office light, shut down the computer and go home. When I walk out the door I don’t say “looks good.”

It takes us about 4 hours, in two shifts, to mow the entire “civilized” area. But when we are finished and the tractor is cleaned and put away, we look out over the property, put our hands on hips and say, “Wow, the place really looks great!” Simple, but satisfying – but don’t drive tractor into the pond!

Here a few photos of the John Deere.