Let Us Now Praise Men and Machinery

 More fun on the farm -- a few days ago our little Kubota utility vehicle was parked at our basement door  while the driver unloaded some odds and ends. Alas, the emergency brake was not fully engaged and the vehicle began to roll back down the road, and off the road, down a slope and over the edge  to end up lodged against a rock in the branch.

The banks are steep and slick and there are no trees handy to attach a come along so we did what we done before, when we've found ourselves in this sort of pickle --  called on Allen's Wrecker Service. They've been pulling our vehicles (and our friends' and neighbor's vehicles) out of ditches and creeks for almost forty years. Howard Allen was a sort of genius at this work and now that Howard's gone, his son Charles runs the business.

It took Justin on our tractor to pull the wrecker across a few slick spots in our front yard but 
 once the wrecker got in place, it was just a matter of hooking the cable to the front of the Kubota . . .
                                                                    And slow and sure, up it came.

Once it was out of the creek and on the bank, the fella in the orange shirt got behind the wheel and the Kubota started. "I believe it'll come up on its own," he said. 

  . . . and it did, with just a little help from the wrecker to get over the edge and back onto the road.
 We were elated -- having been prepared to find out that this very useful  piece of farm equipment  was totalled. But aside from some dents and two slightly twisted wheels that will have to be replaced, the damage was minimal. That's one tough little machine -- and the dump bed still works. 
Everyone who lives in the country -- especially  in the mountains -- needs to know a good wrecker guy. We've been fortunate to know the best.