The Great Tractor Incident of '07

Here's Ben at a farm we went to, with the idea of picking strawberries. They had a tractor ride, which cost $4, which, of course, Ben just had to ride. By himself. When I went to get into the "cow" with him, he said: "No, Daddy!", which is Ben-speak for get lost. So I put Ben in his Cow, and told him to hang on tight. Of course, I didn't even notice that he was by far the youngest kid on the "train". By at least two years. But the driver said they'd only go around the fields. which I could see, so...

So then Ben's Mom comes back with the tickets as the tractor takes off. (I made a deal with the driver that we'd pay on the way out). Ben's Mom sees what's happening and asks "He's going on that thing alone?!" Alone?? He wasn't going on it alone, he just wasn't going on it with me...

Of course, the tractor takes off, Ben holding tight, and works it's way through the fields... Until it takes a hard right and vanishes. Poof! Ben's Mom gives me a look. She reminds me that he's basically two, and I've just sent him off alone in a cow-shaped bucket on wheels. She's nervous. Suddenly I'm nervous. And now I'm thinking, "no way I pay that lady 4 bucks if she comes back without my kid!"

But then, as Ben's Mom and I scanned the horizon for any sign of our First Born, the tractor appeared out of the field. I quickly used my telephoto lens to establish that, while I couldn't make out Ben, all of the seats were filled with children. And, I'm happy to say, Ben was doing fine. He didn't look especially happy, but he was alive. Phew.