Just call me Ren McCormick...

Ren McCormick... Kevin Bacon.... Footloose? AAAhhhhhh.... The light bulb in your head goes on... And suddenly it's 1984 and you are listening to Quiet Riot and Kenny Loggins.

Anyway, last weekend we had a big storm blow through and it knocked down a relatively large branch... So large that when I took down what was left hanging to the tree... The mound of branches was larger than a pile of snow, on which, one would play king of the hill... (for you Texans who have never had the opportunity to play king of the hill because of the lack of snow in your vicinity, this is a game where you shove people off the hill trying to remain on top. So you can relate... In the world of blogs... Eddie is "King of the Hill." ... at least in Texas anyways.) Back to my point, moving this mountain of branches was no easy task. To accomplish this task, I employed the services of "Big Red." Now if you have ever seen the movie footloose, there was a scene where they were on the back forty on the edge of a drainage ditch with a showdown between Ren and Chuck Crantson. (If you will recall, they were playing "Chicken" with a couple of tractors.) Well, the tractor I was driving this weekend was EXACTLY like the one Ren was driving. I think I even heard the song "I need a Hero" start playing somewhere in the back ground as I fired this bad boy up and moved the bucket up and down.

I need a HERO...
I'm holding out for hero in the morning light...
and he's gotta be strong
and he's gotta be fast
and he's gotta be fresh from the fight...

AS I WAS speeding along... the shoe lace on my sandals got wrapped around the clutch... and I couldn't stop... and I was about to crash... into a speeding car... I tried to jump... but each time I did... I kept falling back into my seat... Fortunately, the car swerved and flipped into the ditch... and then I celebrated on top of the tractor as my girlfriend chased after me...

Okay... I don't have shoe laces on my sandals... I wasn't about to crash into a speeding car... I didn't try and jump from the tractor... My girlfriend was gone for the weekend... and there was no celebration. In all reality, I was a big wimp and because it was the first time I had driven this tractor... I was pretty cautious. BUT I did stand on the tractor as I was driving and I did envision myself as Ren and I did sing the song "Hero" as I lived wildly, if not for just a moment. In short, none of the aforementioned happened... But let's be honest folks: I AM that Hero.

*So.... You gotta cut loose, footloose... kick of your Sunday shoes... please Marie... shake it shake it for me...*