While waiting in line to pay for a bunch of tennis balls for my daughter, a little boy being held by his mother seemed to be in need of a game of peek-a-boo. I’ve never been one to turn such opportunities down. The line was slow, so we played for a little while. My teenage son was getting a little embarrassed.
That made it even more fun.
The little boy had to have been around two years-old. I had never seen these folks before, as a matter of fact; I was a long way from home. The little fellow had blonde corn silk hair, a toothy grin and a wonderful laugh.
After a while, his mother asked him, “Who are you playing with?”
Out of nowhere, the little boy answered his mother, “Ole Tractor Man.” It caught me by surprise. They recognize me in the Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe, Florida as “the Tractor Guy,” but this was another state and a two year-old.
I told the little boy’s mother, “I am the tractor man.” I left the “ole” out. Then I asked her, “How did he know that?” The lady was confused, she said, “He likes tractors.” To that, I said, “So do I.”
I let it go. The little boy seemed happy, I was happy, the lady was confused. Now I can honestly say, “They know me in the Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe, Florida and daycares in Alabama.”
My travels in the next few days took me across farming fields in north Alabama in search of good barbecue. I found it at the “Old Greenbrier Restaurant” in Madison, Alabama. They know the difference between inside and outside meat; they know how to cook it and they treat you well.
The Old Greenbrier also has wonderful "white sauce."
The slaw at the Old Greenbrier Restaurant is “vinegary,” the way I like it. The hushpuppies aren’t that pretty, but they sure are good. After you’re finished, you can get a self serve ice cream cone for a quarter. You can’t beat that with a stick.
In making my way to the restaurant, my children and I ran into a thunderstorm, which produced one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen – a “double rainbow.” We didn’t go crazy like that fellow “Hungry Bear” did a couple of years ago when he saw one.
Hungry Bear’s video of a double rainbow went “viral” on the internet and landed him on a late night talk show. He got a little excited (he went berserk); it seemed to be a life changing event for him.
My children and I just started screaming at each other and hanging out the windows of the car taking pictures. It was a great experience – seeing my teenage children excited.
As we continued to drive, we could see the end of the rainbow in a field we were headed toward. There wasn’t a pot of gold there – but there was a tractor. That was cool and I have to say it – it cranked my tractor.
A couple of days earlier, I was recognized by a two year-old waiting in line at the sporting goods store to pay for tennis balls and now I had found a tractor at the end of the rainbow. To top it off, I got to eat great barbecue in a cinderblock building with straight back wooden chairs. This was the good stuff.
What does it all mean?
I found a place on the internet that said, “Double Rainbows are considered symbolic of transformations in your life. The material world is represented by the first rainbow while the second rainbow is the spiritual world.”
No, I’m not into that.
I understand that a double rainbow is created when the ray of sunlight bounces twice off the back interior surface of raindrops/moisture before re-emerging into the air and the second reflection inverts the order of the colors.
I can live with that explanation.
All I know is that a double rainbow is pretty cool, there’s a tractor at the end of my rainbow and that they serve good barbecue at the Old Greenbrier Restaurant.
Oh, I also know that little boys like tractors and the women at the Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe, Florida know who I am.
Life is as simple as you let it be.
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Cranks My Tractor
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I'm BN Heard and I like semicolons, dogs and white barbecue sauce.
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