The Prairie Sun Life: Pickups and Trucks

It seems like every farmer who's been around a while has at least four or five pickups in the yard and outbuildings. There's the pickup you drive and the back-up pickup that you don't drive very often but sometimes do. Then there's the fuel pickup (equipped with large fuel tanks, this pickup can be driven out to a field and used to fuel a tractor or other large piece of machinery) and the water pickup (water is often hauled to wherever the farmer is working so it will be on hand in case of fire, basically used as if it were a firetruck), and usually a few others. The pickups all vary in age and temperament but each usually serves a purpose of some sort.

Also, a "pickup" and a "truck" are two different beasts and one must make sure to mind their nomenclature! If you tell a farmer you are going to take a truck into town, he will likely assume you are hauling grain in the semi! A "truck" is technically a tractor-trailer/semi/big-rig, while a pickup is your standard everyday work-horse.

Though the distinction is lost on most Americans, and certainly I had never considered the difference before I started dating a farmer, there are other cultures who do discern between a "pickup" and a "truck." In high school I drove a Ford Ranger. I liked it because it was something different than the Camrys and Tauruses most of my classmates drove, and my parents liked it because it was small and had no backseat... In college, while on a study abroad in France, I explained to my host family that I drove a truck! They looked at me in disbelief. "Oh yes-- I drive it to school... to the store... visiting friends... all over!" It took several minutes of questioning before I realized that they had two different words for "pickup" and "truck" in French, and I was using the wrong one. My host family was trying to envision me driving an 18-wheeler to school-- a far cry from my Ranger. I had a few similar conversations early on with Jeff and his family.

Today we were introduced to an old classic truck that doesn't serve much purpose anymore besides the occasional parade appearance. As far as trucks or pickups go, this one is a gem. Today, Jeff got to drive and I rode along in a restored, fully operational 1928 International. In it's old age, it was a bit cantankerous and unwilling to run (see how you feel when you're roused from a nap at 83 years old!), but our landlord gave him a little push from the John Deere tractor and we were off and rolling around the yard. What a classic! In it's day, it would have been filled with grain or other large loads. In image, it reminds me of the vehicle described in The Grapes of Wrath. We just took it for a small spin, under the caution "Don't take it farther than you would want to walk back!" Upon parking, I looked out at our modern Dodge Ram and doubted anyone will regard it the same way as this '28 when it's 83.