The Remains of the Day

It’s nearly 6:00 p.m. EST as I sit down to write this update about our Field of Nightmares (if Kevin Costner ever heard voices around our property, he wisely ran away quickly instead of sticking around and building a baseball diamond.)

We had both tractors out of the mud at one point today. They were both traversing about on their own.

And then, the red F150 that you see in the photo below was added to the mix of vehicles stuck in the bog-mud. Shortly thereafter, the larger tractor returned to captivity.

So, as of right now, Field: 4  Us: 1

So. You’re probably asking, “What in the heck started this comedy of errors, anyway?” Well, let me tell you! There was some old fence and posts from the previous landowner on the far end of our field, and yesterday, we thought we’d pull those up and out to use in making some kind of fenced safe area for our chickens to range in. We took the pickup back there, and we were doing fine, until we tried to pull up some fencing panels that had fallen on the ground and grass had grown over. We were attempting to pull it up like a Band-Aid, and we were doing well until I hit a soft spot, the grass tore up, and the truck sunk in. This mud is beyond mucky.

We drove my brother home last night so he could work today, and when all was said and done, we didn’t get to bed until around 2:00 a.m. (we had to shower after we got home, it was simply not an option to sleep in our own stench.) We’ve been trying all day to get his truck freed from the mud, and have hauled rocks from our pile, jacked up the truck, put the rocks under the tires, and tried to pull it out. All to no avail. It looks like we’re going to need a wrecker, because we’re out of steam and ideas. Given that the truck is about 150 feet off of the road, and there are huge ruts about 15-20 feet directly behind it that need to be avoided, and we don’t want Vehicle Victim #6, well, let’s just say we need to make sure that the rig that comes out can handle all of these special details. Did I mention we need to make this happen tonight?

Yeah.

Also, our dog is sick today. We aren’t sure if Loki pulled a muscle and is sore from it, or if there’s something medical going on with him. Awesome Vet gave us some things to try, which we are doing, and hoping that it’s just a situation where he overdid it and will feel better soon.

Mom reminded me today of Carol Burnett’s famous quote: “Comedy is tragedy plus time.” And I certainly recognize that our situation is not the tragedy that many are enduring these days, so I’m keeping perspective on that. But I do know, deep down, that the Tale of Our Vehicle-Devouring Field is going to be a story told for years to come, and eventually, I’ll be able to laugh about it. That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. 🙂

So, on a brighter note, the forsythia shrub made me smile today. Perhaps you’ll enjoy it, too.

Thanks to everyone who’s commented, emailed, and tweeted words of encouragement about this situation. I really, really hope to have happier posts for you the rest of the week!

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