In which Cliff participates in a tractor pull

First of all let me tell you that I find tractor pulls the most boring activity every invented by man.  A tractor pull usually starts before noon and doesn't end until around midnight.  It wouldn't be so bad except that you will see a lot of the same tractors pulling over and over in different weight classes:  They add weights to the tractor and try again until you get sick of seeing that same guy all the time.  They start with small tractors and work up to big ones.  
This tractor pull was only about ten miles from home, close enough that Cliff could drive the Oliver there (we have no trailer big enough to haul it, nor any truck large enough to pull that much weight).  He kept saying that if his class pulled before dark, he would pull, but he was NOT going to drive a tractor home in the dark.  
I knew his class would pull after dark.  They NEVER get to the big tractors until after dark.  
My daughter, Cliff's sister, and I got cold and came on home at dusk, knowing there was no hope of seeing Cliff pull; we figured he'd be right behind us.
  

However, the oldest grandson, his girl friend, Heather, and Titan, who had been there since 11 A.M., were not leaving.  Arick wanted to see his grandpa pull that tractor.  He told Cliff he would follow him home in the Jeep.  
I think they said Cliff made it about halfway down the track; if he had taken the weights off the tractor, he would have been in a lighter class and probably done better, but taking off the weights would have scratched up the wheels and marred the beauty of Cliff's prize.

  Heather got this picture of Cliff during his pull.  

I took the Ipad to the tractor pull and alternately played on Facebook and read my current book, "Unnatural Exposure" by Patricia Cornwell, who was featured on CBS Sunday morning last week.  

One little tractor puller managed to get my attention:  

The little guy driving the tractor couldn't have been more than ten years old.  His father walked along beside the tractor, coaching him.

They were dressed alike, right down to the gloves.  The gloves looked large for the little guy.  
It was one of those sights that tugs at your heartstrings.  

On another note:  You know winter isn't far off when you see cows gathered around a hay bale, eating.  Actually, they still have plenty of grass in the pasture, but Cliff wanted to get them used to going through the gate in the electric fence.  We have to keep the cows' hay in a spot where the horses can't get to it and founder.