Lean in close and whisper your secret desire.
I’ll go first – I wanted a tractor.
Not a toy, the real deal. The kind that until this past year I figured existed only in Kenny Chesney songs (She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy) and square states in the middle of the country.
Maybe I should explain - we bought land in the mountains (You might've seen a few of my pictures of the deer. And the snow). All around us, guys grow hay to feed their horses or for export to Japan. The former owner of our land’s failure to take care of his property… well, let’s just say it was a sore point in the valley.
Summer rolled around and the grass started growing, as grass does, but the weeds were getting there faster. So I fired up
the Forrest Gump machine. Y’all have seen Forrest Gump one of the nine million times it’s been on TV, right? In case you missed it, this is the mower Forrest used:
It took hours to cut that field.
And I’m sure you noticed there’s no padding on that seat.
Fast forward a few weeks and the grass – and the weeds – had done their thing. I looked at Forrest Gump, sighed, and fired it up. I’d made about two laps when my neighbor drove into the field on his enormous John Deere. “Cathy, let me teach you how to drive a tractor.”
And so it went all summer. I’d fire up Forrest Gump, clear the edges and cut around the irrigation heads and my neighbor would show up with his tractor.
Granted this wasn’t like borrowing a cup of sugar and I lived in fear of somehow breaking it, but I loved that tractor.
So when the holiday season rolled around, I asked Santa for a tractor.
Left homemade cookies and everything.
Our family celebrated Christmas at the new house (yeah, yeah, another story) and when all the packages were open, there wasn’t one with a set of keys. I checked the barn, the garage, the shed.
No tractor.
Kinda like the pony when I was a kid.
Hmmm … I wonder if the dealer puts tractors on sale after Christmas?
So what did you wish for – either this year or when you were a kid – that Santa didn’t tuck under your tree?
Book one in the Holly Price series, the story romps through eastern Washington with its rivers, wineries, Native American casinos, and assorted farm animals. Add in some wicked fun chemistry between the CPA amateur sleuth and a local detective and Holly better solve the case before the next dead body found beside the river is hers.
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If you enjoy the story, send a copy of the review (any retail outlet) and I'll send you a gift copy of either Malbec Mayhem or Double Down.
Send it to cathy@cperkinswrites.com or use the contact form on my website - http://cperkinswrites.com. You can sign up for my (infrequent) newsletter at the same time!
2 comments:
You definitely need a tractor, but even better living on that big expanse, you need a great neighbor like yours. What a gift!
I try not to have expectations for Christmas, so I can be only delighted by whatever comes my way. I will admit, the biggest gift to me (and hubby) is simply being remembered by my kids. Okay...when I was younger, there was that special bike or doll. LOL. I so remember all my dream things growing up. Hope you have a great new year!
We have wonderful neighbors!
I really like your attitude Sandy. Cherish that sense of anticipation and delight.
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