"Maybe I should just go home and ride my tractor." ----Chuck Grassley, Iowa farmer and President pro tempore of the United States Senate
Talk of tractors inevitably leads to local lawyer and friend John Gallaspy. With humility his long suit, he began his missive to me in mid-2024, "I appreciate very much your interest in my modest career and existence. I have long read and admired your observations of human deportment and achievements and have enjoyed them."
Mr. John went on to describe bits and pieces of his heroic military career which earned him a Bronze Star. But in his rush in 1954 to return to home sweet home, he had not waited for the presentation of the award. With the Korean War having ended, Mr. John was part of an occupational force in the Republic of South Korea. In summary, he couldn't get home fast enough. And it didn't surprise me to learn that a tractor was waiting there for him.
In his own words, "I came home very cheerfully to the hills of Northwest La.; my father bought a used John Deere 'M.T.' farm tractor with the hope that my doing plowing for other farmers would keep me out of trouble; it didn't --- I also had a job selling auto batteries, and the manufacturer went broke, and I followed his example and signed up for law school, which I guess is a pretty good illustration of the noble purposes that motivate some of us when we register to 'read law.'"
Mr. John expressed concern in his next breath about sounding like "David Copperfield," but I fully appreciated what he was saying and where he was going with the story. Like our peers, I, too, had certain motivation for applying to law school.
And as for the terrific tractor --- notwithstanding Mr. John's successful career as a prominent jurist in Washington Parish --- I do not believe he ever really climbed down from the seat of the M.T. That is where his heart was. One glimpse of his personalized stationery, not only printed in John Deere green but also complete with his photograph in green coveralls atop a classic Deere, confirmed. The citizens of Washington Parish are quite familiar with Mr. John's zeal for tractors, evidenced by his long-held significant vintage collection which he has ridden in local celebrations through the years --- a beautiful sight to behold. And it all started in North Louisiana, in the tiny town of Pelican --- long before the law --- with his father's M.T.
My own father never really had a tractor --- he didn't come from farmers --- until the 1980s. With the death of my maternal grandfather --- who was a farmer --- in 1981, Daddy decided to buy a tractor to help my Ga-ga with work on the farm. According to my husband Rodney, it was a Belarus --- a product of the Soviet Union. Costing considerably less than domestic models, it was the perfect choice for my dad who, budget-conscious, before that had little familiarity with tractors. But it's never too late, and the Belarus fit the bill for Daddy post-retirement. He logged a lot of hours on his beloved tractor, cutting hay in the fields and bushhogging the trails in the woods.
But as we all know, nothing lasts forever. The Belarus gave up the ghost post-Katrina when Rodney needed it the most. Digressing, my better half informed us that he spent his entire life, before me, on a tractor working for his father on his parents' place on the Pine Highway. So, knowing a thing or two about equipment, Rodney convinced my mother to buy a John Deere in the fall of 2005. The two of them lit out for the dealership, and that was that. Now, it wasn't anything fancy --- nothing like our good neighbor Greg Seal's top-of-the-line tractor which has an air-conditioned cab --- but it did the trick on our small farm. Plus, it made Rodney most happy. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Greg, the son of Jackie Smith, took that old Belarus off our hands and magically made it run again. To put it mildly, Greg is mechanically inclined.
And so is our former neighbor and my childhood classmate Kent Passman, the son of Richard and Nena Passman. He rebuilt a fantastic Chevy car when we were just kids. So it didn't surprise me to learn of his most recent project --- not long ago, Kent completed a total rebuild on a 1958 Farmall Cub tractor. But I was astonished with the next tidbit of information provided. It had once come from some of my relatives, generations back. Kent's dad had purchased it around 1969.
And now, Kent has the Cub all ready --- for his brother Brian (wife Debra) --- to go again, in the garden. He affectionately referred to the tractor as "this old girl." And she is a beauty if you ask me. I'm tickled pink that she's once again in fine shape and a hop, skip, and a jump from us on T. C. Brumfield Road. I only wish Ga-ga and Pa-pa could see her.
