The Minnesota Farm Woman

I took a drive today, in a twenty-five year old rusty pickup truck that in dog years, is much older than that. It is HIS latest acquisition for our driveway, which sometimes resembles a used car lot. It belches smoke and smells of hardworking man sweat, the gravel road I’m driving on, and something I can’t quite put my finger on. Still, the old truck does what it is supposed to do. It hauls the boat back and forth from the lake, which is exactly why I was driving down this dusty road. When the road meets blacktop, I turn left onto another dusty road, pulling an empty boat trailer behind me. HE had driven the boat across the lake and was to meet me at the landing, which is at the end of the road. It gets more narrow with deeper potholes the farther one drives. Along with a cooler and toolbox and an occasional load of firewood, the bed of the old truck holds a chainsaw, which is very important if one is going to drive in this neck of the woods. The forest near the lake is deep and dark and thick with trees old and young. To me, the darkness makes it creepy and kind of Halloweeny, even in the middle of summer. I am dressed in old clothes and comfortable walking shoes, as I was once stopped halfway down by a huge downed popple tree that was blocking the road. Even if I hadn’t been pulling the trailer there was no place to turn around, so I crawled over it, snagging my church clothes in the process, and hiked down to the lake in my Sunday shoes. I tried not to think that with each step I took I was probably stalked by savage beasts and/or goblins. Truth be told, I am kind of a wimp and prefer the sawing of large trees or shooting of savage beasts and/or goblins in the Halloweeny woods to be done by HIM. Today, I was enjoying the hint of fall in the air and was hardly thinking about the familiar route as I turned left on to the gravel road in that old truck, small dog hanging out the window and boat trailer bouncing along behind. I stopped. Instead of trees, there was a line of split rail fencing and a barn I had never seen before. Across the road, bare ground and a retaining wall of large boulders. Landscaping. I thought for a moment that I had taken a wrong turn, and wondered how in the heck I was going to turn this truck and trailer around. As I drove along, I realized that it was indeed the right road, as the forest grew thicker, the road got narrower, and the potholes got deeper the farther I drove. I was thankful that there were no downed trees, savage beasts, and/or goblins to stop me and when I got to the end of the road, the lake was sparkling in the afternoon sun and HE was waiting on the shore.