A perfectly level rice field is good for many reasons, most of which Charley mentioned. However, he did miss one more benefit. If you’re an ambitious first grader, a perfectly smooth, flat, 75-acre field is a perfect place to practice driving for the first time. Last Saturday after many, many months of my son hounding me, I finally relented.
If you’re a parent in the passenger seat, a big field with nothing in it helps to diminish your anxiety. It is hard to explain the sense of helplessness that comes over you as you sit in the passenger seat and look over at a wide-eyed kid driving you around. My only move would be to turn off the ignition, hopefully just in the nick of time.
Thankfully none of the worrying or apprehension was necessary at all. Gus had many hours in his go-cart practicing for this very moment and actually acquitted himself quite well. We used the lanes made by the scraper buckets as " roads" and pretended that there were ditches on each side. We only got wet twice.
All in all it was a good first lesson and the look on his face, and hearing him tell mom all about it was worth all the stress. I only wish I would have remembered to play "Drive" by Alan Jackson during his first lesson.
Sean Doherty is a 3rd generation rice farmer living out his dream, being a rice farmer in Dunnigan.He farms in Yolo, Colusa, and Sutter Counties with his wife Melissa, and three kids, Hannah, Gus, and Mary. He enjoys being in the fields, watching the seasons, and sharing it with his family.
Read more about Sean in Rice Farming magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment