Tractor Trek 2011 from Joel Wiebe on Vimeo.

Last weekend I had the chance to drive a tractor for the first time! It wasn’t any tractor either, it was the tractor that my great-grandpa bought in 1945, right after the war (my grandpa notes that due to the war rubber wasn’t available, so it was on steel wheels and was later adapted to accommodate rubber tires). My grandpa’s hobby is restoring tractors, he currently has five (all red, I might add). Each tractor has a story, and on Saturday my uncle, cousin, brother-in-law and myself entered into those stories for a day.

The Tractor Trek, consisting of nearly 50 tractors over 50 years old, took us over 50 km of countryside. Along the way we were greeted by numerous families who parked on the side of the road or ran to the end of their driveways to watch us drive by. It was a surprisingly fun experience, and gave us lots of opportunity to reflect on what farming life and the lives of my grandparents must have been like years ago, all while cracking lots of sunflower seeds (“knack zote” as we call it around here). It really was an honour. (Oh, and Olivia loved “driving” the tractor too!).

Thanks Joel for putting this video together!