Another tractor drive. Gabe tags along.

Cliff isn't terribly fond of tractor drives:  He's required to sit on a tractor, lined up with other tractors, moving at whatever speed the slowest tractor in the group is going, accompanied by two deputies, one at the head of the line, one at the tail.  At busy intersections, one officer directs traffic (or stops it) so our group can get across without being divided into sub-groups.  The drives usually amount to 10 or 15 miles one way over mostly country roads off the beaten path.  Believe me, that's a long, long drive in the sun (or even in the clouds) when you're going ten miles per hour.  Cliff gets bored.  I think mainly, he goes because he knows I enjoy it.  

The destination yesterday was the annual l"People's Choice" Orscheln store at Higginsville, Cliff decided rather than put a tractor on the trailer and haul it to our tractor club's meeting-place, he'd take his favorite, the Oliver 1855 his late brother helped him restore.  It's too big to load it onto our trailer, so we can only show it close to home.  He asked whether I wanted to ride on the tractor beside him, sitting on an upside-down bucket, or in the "Donna-carrier", seen here... picture taken on Gabe's very first tractor drive a few weeks ago.

 Well, the temperatures have reaching the 90's lately, and I certainly didn't intend to subject Gabe to that kind of heat (in full sun, no less).  So I opted for a seat beside Cliff on the tractor.

Saturday morning I awoke hearing the pitter-patter of rain on the windows and considerable wind blowing past outside.  I barely got my first cup of coffee made before the power went out.  So much for the tractor drive.  

Here in the boonies we have well water, which is brought to our house by an electric pump.  If there's no electricity, there's no water.  When Cliff got up a couple of hours later, I gave him the usual warning during power outages... don't flush.  You see, each toilet is good for one more flush after the power's off, since the tank is full of the water brought in at the last flush.  We don't flush until extreme circumstances make it necessary or until power returns.  I brought the cowboy coffeepot in from the camper and was hunting up potable water for Cliff's coffee when the power came back on.  Cliff turned on the tv to watch the weather; it appeared the storms would move out in time for the drive, but barely.  We decided to go.  The drive was on again!

One thing the storm did for us (since it only brought us scant rainfall) was to cool things off to such a degree that we both required a jacket when we stepped outside.  The weatherman said it would be a cooler day than the preceding ones.  Meanwhile, Gabe, who always knows when we're leaving, was following me from room to room waiting to see if I'd be putting shoes on, because that's a sure clue we're leaving.  He started to stress out a bit, keeping a close eye on my feet.  Poor pup, he'd have to spend six hours or so alone in his kennel thinking nobody loved him.

But wait, it isn't going to be so hot now, so Gabe can go.  Change in plans!

Cliff had left the Donna-carrier on the tractor the day before, so with no delay I put my dog on a leash and loaded him in with me.  Never mind the fact it was still raining lightly.  As my mother used to say, "You're neither sugar or salt, so you won't melt."

Thank goodness the sprinkles soon stopped, leaving behind only clouds in their wake.  

Gabe enjoyed the view:

Please note the leash in the picture:  I kept a tight hold at all times, because let's face it, if he took a plunge off there with us on the move, it would likely be disastrous.  My granddaughter bought this particular leash because she had planned to put her Shitzu through training, but changed her mind and gave it to me.  It has (make that had) a large, strong snap that is more easily handled by older folks with arthritis, and the whole 10-foot-long leash is just easier to handle than those cheap retracting leads.  I love it.  

He'd walk across me from one side to the other  

sometimes settling on my lap to keep watch.
  
Once in Higginsville, we went to John Knox Village rest home for perhaps fifteen minutes.  The old folks were seated in a line outside so they could see the tractors.  By the way, thanks to the rain, we only had five tractors on the drive, but there were lots of tractors waiting at Orscheln when we got there for the show; they just didn't do the drive.

One problem with having a young, energetic dog along:  I forget to take pictures for a blog entry.  It's like being a young mother with a baby or toddler along... you stay preoccupied with this little life you hold in your hands and everything else takes second place.  

So I have no more pictures, but another story.  I snapped the end of Gabe's leash to the tractor.  This worked fine until Cliff and I both walked away for something together.  Then he set up his high-pitched, squeaky whining because, you know, why would we leave him alone?  We did whatever it was we went to do and were back in five minutes or so, only to see no dog was there.  What?????  I walked to the tractor to see how he'd made his escape and at that point, saw Gabe socializing with some tractor people parked behind our tractor.  Whew.  

In that short length of time, he'd chewed through his leash!  The leash I loved so much!  Here I was at a tractor show in Orscheln's parking lot with no way to keep my dog with me!!  OK, enough with the exclamation marks.  

Cliff pointed out that Orscheln does sell dog supplies, after all.  He restrained my dog with what was left of the leash so I could shop.  I saw various kinds of tie-outs and leashes inside, but what I got in the end was a chain.  Yes, a 10-foot-long metal chain.  Let's see him chew through that.  I'll probably only use it on tractor drives.  

You may wonder why I would subject a dog to all this activity.  I've often wondered that about other people and their dogs.  Their dog doesn't appear to be having an especially good time and it's hot, so why?  

Well, it's about bonding, partially.  And also to give me something to fiddle with so I don't get bored.  By the way, Gabe actually does enjoy these outings.  People pet him, people he's never met.  As long as either Cliff or I stay with him, he's relaxed and happy.  I do my best to keep him away from any large group of people gathered in one spot, because I know some folks aren't dog lovers and Gabe does have a tiny problem with jumping up on people's legs to get their attention.

All in all, it was a good day for me and my Mini-Schnauzer.  And on this drive, he didn't get motion-sickness like he did on his first ride.  

Peace.