When my dad’s old school bus wouldn't start for the morning route, my mother (Mother Maggie) pulled it with the old Moline R tractor. When the cows were out, she grabbed her broom. When the horn on the 1963 Travelall (the original Tomato Buggy) would stick on and keep sounding after a turn, she laughed through town with it blaring. Another time, with Mother back at the wheel of the Travelall nearing the Four-Mile Corner, the top tomatoes teetered in their green baskets on the back seat. She reached back to save them. That International version of a Suburban veered down into the ditch. She was also pulling a trailer loaded with produce. Without slowing, Mother calmly rode the ditch bottom for a bit, then deftly bounced her rig back onto the asphalt and continued on to the farm market. I was riding shotgun. I think she laughed.
Comments