John Deere

Up until about 2 years ago I was working for a country radio station on the Maine coast. I lived however on a small farm in rural Appleton, Maine where I raised ducks and chickens (there's nothing like fresh eggs). Things grow pretty fast in that wet climate and I had to mow several acres. I had been using an old Ford lawn tractor that came with the house. It was a good little tractor, but it was worn and abused and ready to fall apart. All my life I had dreamed of owning a John Deere. So I saved my money and finally got enough together to pay cash for a brand new Deere! Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of tractors out there I'd love to own. I have a listener who calls me regularly who loves his International Harvester and I have another friend who swears by his Kubota. But for me "nothing runs like a Deere". You see in Appleton it doesn't matter what kind of car you drive, if you have a Deere tractor you park it in front of the house by the road. It's a status symbol. About a month after I bought my tractor a package came in the mail from John Deere headquarters in Moline, Illinois. I opened it like a kid ripping open a Christmas present and I was disappointed that all it was a John Deere baseball hat. I had plenty of those. Then I spied the gold stitching in the bill of the cap. It said "owners edition"! Now, anyone can buy a John Deere hat, but you have to own a Deere to wear this hat.
The John Deere was sold with the farm to my cousin Donovan about 2 years ago, with the stipulation that I can drive the tractor any time I come visit. I did keep the hat and although it's dirty and worn out I still proudly wear it!