On a morning in May

You can't tell from this photo, but the wheels on this behemoth are taller than the Saturn I drive. This thing is huge. The first time I encountered this piece of machinery, it's side arms were partially extended and it was coming toward me on a foggy morning just after I'd moved to farm land.

I'd never seen anything like this. It startled me. It was mammothly large and shouldn't have been on the same roadway as my tiny 2 door Saturn. It gave me the sense of what I could only imagine it would feel like to be standing in a field and have a battle tank advancing on you. It made me think of those huge walking fighting machines in one of the Star Wars movies. It creeped me out that early May morning a year ago.

I went into work ranting about this monster I'd seen on the road and my new coworkers giggled patronizing at me as they explained the monster was really a crop sprayer. Silly city girl.

I really wasn't frightened, just horribly out of my element and feeling edgy. A year ago, I didn't know a lot of things I know today. There was a clue that I missed that day, that could have allayed all my uneasiness if I'd only recognized it.

Just as our vehicles prepared to pass head on, the driver gave me the classic Nebraska 1 finger wave that says "Hi, Neighbor. Have a good day!" He continues to do so, every day as we pass each other in varying combinations of Saturn and farm vehicles, both on our way to earn our daily bread.