Scranton Central HS 1958 Yearbook (Scranton, PA) - Full Access

AFFINITY The tractor was part of 1tis life. Could he ever leave it? H E had thought about it for over a week now, and hi ex– cit ment mounted a he '' alked up the du ty road, dangling two school– book and a tablet by a belt. H wa tall thin but more mu ular in the arm and leg than mi~ht have been suppo ed at fir t glance. Hi yellow hair gli tened from the oil he u ed. He walked fat normally, but now he took lonaer tep a he went around the Ia t bend. Hi father wa. a farmer. with twenty-odd cow and mor' cah·e than he kn ,,. what to do with. EYer ince the lad could remember, he bad been carrying milk to the milkhou. c, or raking hay or feeding the dog.. H went to chool in the cit} on a noi ) , over– crowded bu that had a fairly high turnm·er of dri\·ers. Hi. city friend often kidded with him about hi Ji, ing on a farm; he didn't mind though. realizing that not many of them knew ""'hat it wa like workina twelve and ixteen hour in the um– mer before a torm; nor did the\· knm' the in ten e sati. faction and plea ure he found in the morning he wa too tired at ni rht ) or the comrade. hip that come. on a ha) wagon. The silo loomed larg 1 a he ap– proach ·d. but he tumed and went into the hou . op ning the door to the ve tibule with it .agging floor. He could not remember a farmhou e without a a~gin~ floor omewhere. He went into the li\·ina room fluna • ~ . _'t ~ h1 book on the couch and returned to the kitchen for omething to eat. He heard hi mothe1 out ide in the garden . ay omething about not touchin the pic. He drank half a bottle of ra\\ milk he never drank an> in chool; it wa. too much like watered milk and went out the door, chewing o~ 20 CcOI!!.C AjljJlin, '58 a handful of cookie. . Walking to the garage, he aw hi. father coming out. ..Did it come ·et ?" he a. ked loud– !) . '·Did what come yet?" hi father replied, a .lirrht .mile on hi. dark red face and a imulated frown above the rai cd eyebrow . '·You know what!' the boy •x– claimed, running tm,ard him and jostling hirn lightly. '"I'm urc I don't know what you are talking about,' hi fathe1 aid, blinkina hi eye ·. '·Oh," he aid in the ton of an afterthought. ·· ome– body left omething in ide for u toda). I thought you might take a look and gi' e me your opinion of it. ' '·Kow who could po ibl) lea\ e anything for u ?" the boy aid, and he and hi. father lau~hed togethet. ..You go in and take a look at it. I II b ba k in a minute.'' "Okay. Dad. the boy aid. He a'' the grill fir t, perched high in the air and all red. "ith . crcened horizontal .lit going up and down. He walked be. ide it and a\' the ca ting. and oil line and the quar ·d trip of metal that ran back to the ga tank. all red. et off only by the chromed letter. which announced the name of the maker and the model. He aw the huge black tire . nearly a. high a hi houlder, en– circling the red "heel '' ith hole in them. Hi · C) e tra' cled to the turned– back eat and the maze of Je, er.. He named them: gear hift. throttle by the Leering wheel, hand clutch. the hart hydraulic controL. and the hart brake relea e le\·er by the two brake pedal . He looked at it in awe: thi magnificent. terrible. beautiful pi ce of machiner> \Va their , their . . . . He heard foot- tep and there wa hi dad. '·What do you think of it, on?" he asked. "Boy.' he aid in a hu. ky 'oice. "That i . omething." ..\\"ell. I owe it all to you. Boy " hi. fath 'r aid. ··If you hadn t gotten that prite fm college. w • couldn't ha\e afforded it." And he extended hi hand. The boy took it. blu hing; he didn't know what to think. The boy . aid, '·Dad, I'd trade that money for the tract01 any da) of the "e •k. you knO\\ .' "Yc . I know. But it i. b •tter to go to college . . .'' Hi \ oice trailed away. He pointed at the tractor and aid. "\\'h) don't you take her around?'' The youth went to the tractor . tepped on the edge of the platform and hoi ted him elf up be id • the tire. He con idered the panel: then he op ·ned a metal cup re\ealing a ke). Thi he turn d and leaned for– ward to pull the m ·tal r d under the ga. tank. The engine turned over right a''ay, and he could hear the echoe of the exhau t a. he r ·– lea ed the rod. Pushing the clutch pedal do'' n. he hifted in to the .ccond of fi\ e gear. . He relea ed the lutch p ·dal and ca.ed the hand lutch out lowly. he tractoi moothly r lied out of the garage. He mo\·cd the thr ttle le\ cr. and the tractor went fa ter until he had reached the road. He . hifted into fifth gear after locking the brake pedal together he nc\·er a'' any– one ·L e do thi ) and went rolling down the road, leaving three trail of dust in hi wake. He r d around the road and field for about an hour. hi mow– ment. careful and peci e and tem– pered b) long experience. He backed ofl the road and into the garage ducking a cobweb '' hich hung down. · He turned the engine off and at in IMPRE IO \.