EastTexFrank,
"Who's a redneck??" Good question for this forum! Since I've bought my tractor, and more generally, since I moved to the "country", I'm often surprised and amused by how quickly people will use that term about me. Before we bought our little farm, my wife and I lived in a quite tony townhouse in the heart of Atlanta. Since we don't have children, my wife and I often dined out, went to the theater regularly and were on a first name basis with the staff of some of the nicer clubs in town. To many of our friends we were the model yuppie hipsters. At the same time we loved spending time with our friends in the "country", riding our horses, and generally being covered in horse byproduct up to our knees. As soon as we bought our farm, some of our in-town friends assumed that our IQ dropped by 30 points, that indoor plumbing was now an option, and that our teeth would be falling out any minute. I was (and am) amazed at how strongly these stereotypes are engrained in some people.
One of the main reasons I enjoy this forum so much is that the people writing here so consistently, and blatantly break the stereotype of the "redneck". Even though we mostly all live in the country, own tractors and enjoy a rural lifestyle, almost without exception, everyone is very literate, well spoken, knowledgeable on a great many things, and without sounding immodest, pretty **** well off!! So yeah, if owning 25K + of toys, spending th day working the land, then opening a bottle of Opus 1 and sitting on the porch listening to a little Vivaldi (or Lyle Lovett) makes me a redneck then I'll take it!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I think the more appropriate term would be "Renaissance Men" /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Sorry for the threadjack Poppa, I'll stick to tractors from now on. Did I tell you how well my skidding tongs worked with the tractor. Took out seven good sized pines today after I popped the shear pin on the auger (another story). /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif