I often tell people that I am a Redneck by Marriage. I tease my friends at work by doing great imitations of Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy. I have to say, that I really enjoy the Blue Collar sense of humour. I think it is important to laugh at ourselves first, and then with everyone else. We often take ourselves and others too seriously.

So when I say I am a Redneck by marriage, I am not saying that I am small minded, or prejudiced which is how some people  interpret that term, but that I am married to a guy who is farm boy inside and out. He really has a red neck and T-shirt tan all the time. He collects, rebuilds and restores antique tractors (Cockshutt tractors) and he loves nothing more than working in the big garden (1/4 acre) and ploughing the land.

And you know what I really do think his tractor is sexy! Some thoughts occured to me the other morning, while showering. (i get my best insipiration while in or near water), about the different types of tractor collectors that are out there. We just came home from a weekend in Milton, ON, where hundreds of tractor enthusiasts attended the "All Colour Show". All colour show means that no particular brand of tractor is featured and all are invited to come.

Something unusual happened at this year's show, The International Cockshutt Club members held their annual summer meeting/show there, and so did the Allis Chalmers collectors. Due to some scheduling issues the Red and the Orange had to share the banquet hall on Friday evening. That was interesting!

Tractor people kind of like to stick to one colour. For example You are either a John Deere person or not. Very few, collectors actually collect more than one colour or brand. I call those folks Cross-Collectors(kind of like a cross dresser, if you know what i mean). You could feel the tension in the room from the time we finally entered after being held outside in the rain for 10 minutes waiting for them to open the door.

Then it was a huge scramble for seats. Because we were wearing Red shirts, every table we asked to sit at seemed to have Orange shirts and said Sorry these seats are all taken. Most of the Red Shirts were relegated to the second level seating, which was pretty far away from the guest speaker and head tables. After much scurrying around, and a change up of seating partners, we ended up inviting some orange shirts to sit with us. They were young couples who were a whole lot of fun, and we enjoyed meeting them. You see it is like life - although we think we are all so special, and believe in only one colour of tractor...we find out that our commonality is that we all love tractors, and that is what it is really all about!

Same goes for the crazy world we live in. If we just realized, take a step back and look at us from afar, you will see that even though we believe each of our races, religions, countries etc. are something special, we all really just want the same basic things. A warm place to sleep, food to eat, family to share it with and good friends, and the right to believe in any colour tractor we want without prejudiceing others for thier choices.

So we play this game out in many scenarios thorughout our lives. You know the little cliques and social clubs, or old boys clubs you find in most towns and cities. People treating others with less than them, or more than them like they are diseased.

Nuff said about that...Soap Box time! Back to tractor collectors. There are all kinds of them. Mini collectors, who pay big bucks to own peddle tractors that are replicas of the big ones, toy collectors who pay big bucks to buy miniature replicas of the big ones; lawn mower tractor racers, Antique tractor pullers, and the elite collectors who pretty up the big ones and don't want anyone to touch them.

Again society is reflected. The upper class collectors who look down their noses at the tractor pullers, and the memorabilia buffs who want one of everything that no one else has (big game of keeping up with the Joneses. And the novice collector who is so thrilled to show off his newly acquired and restored pride and joy! (have you seen the latest pictures of our baby?)

There is a song on the radio right now that says God is Great, Beer is Good and People are Crazy. Ain't it the truth?

Oh well, just some rambling thoughts from a Red Neck Woman by marriage!