17 Feb 2009 2 Comments

Driving Trucks, Big and Small

This weekend, my dad borrowed one of his construction company’s front loader to plow and clear our farm. After watching my sister Lori operate the machine’s backhoe to plow, I drove the thing to the back of the farm, where, with some guidance from the family, I cleared away grass and weeds with the front bucket. That was exciting, especially since not everyone gets to drive a monstrous construction vehicle in their backyard.

Yesterday also marked my first experience driving a manual transmission vehicle. It was my dad’s old ’80′s-ish Toyota pickup, which is great because if my sister or I ever crashed it into anything, it wouldn’t be a horrible loss. The windshield’s cracked on the driver’s side as though someone threw a rock at it. The entire the truck is covered in dirt, including the interior, indicating its use (or lack of use?) on our farm. Its alignment is ridiculously out of whack. You get the idea. Combine that with the bumpy, dusty, open space of our farm, and the whole experience becomes more comedic than nerve wracking.

Lori went behind the wheel first. She’s slightly ahead of me in this department, as she’s driven this truck a few times before around the farm with my dad. Yesterday she was working on switching from first to second gear. On her first attempt, I believe she released the clutch too fast and/or put too much gas and consequently, we went sailing for a few seconds in a big circle on our farm. Screams and laughter ensued, as my sister brought the truck to a halt.

Then it was my turn. I was surprised at how fast I caught on with starting the truck, balancing the clutch and gas to make it go. After a few rounds of driving in first gear, I attempted to switch it to second gear… and of course, I killed the engine. A few more tries, and I successfully switched to second gear mid-drive.

It was funny seeing my dad standing to the side with my mom and grandma, making hand and body motions suggesting we “hot rod ‘um.” Like running in place and kicking a leg. My dad is usually a quiet man, so seeing him like that is even more laugh-out-loud worthy. The analogies he uses (“imagine a rainbow when you’re turning”; “pretend the engine is a little boy begging for a cookie”) are equally hilarious.

Reversing was our final lesson of the day. Lori was able to make an almost complete circle in reverse. Me? Not so much. First I reversed too fast and almost backed into a papaya tree. Then I backed into the one grassy area in the middle of our farm and couldn’t put the shaft back into first gear. Of course, I thought I had broken the truck, but it had run out of clutch oil.

Hence the finale, where Mom, Dad, and Lori pushed the truck out of the long grass while I steered. Nice way to end a long weekend.

by Liberty in family Tags: ,