Life Through the Rearview Mirror

 

I try not to live life looking in the rearview mirror. As a Type A perfectionist, I can make myself a little crazy with my "woulda, shoulda, coulda" thoughts.

But here lately, I've done quite a bit of rearview mirror watching. Literally.

I had three men who taught me about driving on the farm. My dad, my Uncle Leroy and summer wheat harvest driver Ed all contributed to my education on driving pickups and grain trucks. They all emphasized watching the rearview mirror, especially when driving slowly, to avoid being a one-vehicle traffic jam.

During wheat planting, I make my fair share of trips to Zenith for fertilizer and fuel. And I try to watch my rearview mirror for those fast-approaching vehicles. (For the record, there aren't many on the Zenith Road, but I'll see them if one happens along.)

I've also needed the mirrors for backing up to loading docks to pick up certified wheat seed at Miller Seed Farm and at the farm store for more acetylene and oxygen for those ubiquitous welding repairs.

I watch the mirrors so I know when to stop when I weigh on with empty fertilizer trailers ...

... and again when I pull into the fertilizer shed to get the signal from the co-op worker when to stop. (That one's important: I don't want to have to back up a trailer if I can avoid it!)

 

I ignore the mirror when I'm filling up the 100-gallon diesel tank on the back of the pickup because I'm too busy reading my book. (Fringe benefit!) But I definitely use it as I leave the pumps to avoid anyone else arriving or departing at the same time.

Mirrors help me pull up to the right place so Randy can fill the drill.

I  needed a crystal ball - not a rearview mirror - to know that the rice I left on low on the stove would be incinerated by the time I got back from helping Randy. (I will definitely use past experience - ala a rearview mirror perspective - to influence my decision in the future. The rice was so bad even the cats wouldn't eat it. But I did manage to save the pan after a lot of scrubbing)

Not all the driving has been looking backwards. One morning, I looked to the side to check for traffic before I pulled out of the driveway and loved the play of morning light on the turning leaves.

 

And as I returned from Miller Seed Farm one morning, I watched a front roll toward me across the horizon. I couldn't resist a quick photo. (I had a little cushion of time before Randy was going to fill the drill, so my quick stop was sanctioned.)

Today, I have a meeting in Hutchinson this morning and one in Stafford this afternoon, so the guys are going to have to "drive" the day without me. I think they'll miss me. (Of course, I'll be back in time to make and deliver the evening meal, so they could be missing me more!)