Pokin' Fun
Observing a lot, just by watching
'Doc' Blakely

Doc Blakely is a humorist and motivational speaker who resides in Wharton.

Conversations are the backbone of this column. People are always telling me stories in such a casual way that I almost feel like I am eavesdropping.

Or as Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot just by watching."

Recently a friend got glassy eyed and started reminiscing about his childhood. He and his brother grew up on a farm and decided they would watch the men working with machines and when they grew up they could benefit from the observations.

Their first project was to learn how to drive the tractor. These two kids were 10 and 8, respectively, so naturally the older brother took charge over the little brother's protest. Since he was older, bigger and smarter, he figured he had a lock on the job.

The kids hid in the weeds and watched the men prepare the tractor for work for the day. Keep in mind this was 50 years ago and the tractor was old even then.

It was red according to my source, with a muffler that pointed its tail pipe straight up at the heavens.

A coffee can was placed over the tail pipe to keep the rain out and this they could readily grasp. Some of the other features were less obvious. There were all sorts of things to work with your hands and feet at the same time.

It was complicated but the kids were sure they could figure it out just by watching.

So they watched day after day. For some reason it took two men to start the tractor. After that one guy could operate it.

The process was always the same. They took off a cap and stuck a clean stick in one place to see if it needed gasoline.

If the stick was wet up to a certain mark it was okay to run the tractor for a certain period of time. They pulled out a little metal stick and looked at it very close.

"Quart low," one would say, and the other would remove another cap and put oil in the opening.

Then one of them would wipe the metal stick off on his shirt tail and look at it again.

"She's ready to go," one would say.

Then one guy got in the driver's seat and the other one went around to the front of the tractor which had a large flywheel in those days.

The guy in front would yell, "Ready?" The driver would say, "Yep," the wheel would be turned. At the end of one work day the brothers were hidden in the weeds when the tractor was put up next to the barn. As soon as they were sure they were alone, the older brother told the younger one to turn the flywheel and he would drive.

The little guy couldn't get it to turn so big brother said, "Okay, you get up there and I'll do it. Just turn that key all the way to the right and move that little lever back and forth like the men do."

Big brother turned the flywheel; the tractor coughed, sputtered, backfired but luckily didn't start. It blew the coffee can clean on the top of the barn.

Big brother also had failed to fathom that the starter man turned but didn't hold on to the flywheel. Slammed against the barn, for several days he looked like his torso had been formed in a pretzel factory.

They retrieved the coffee can with the help of a cane pole, turned the switch back to off and retreated. Several days later the boys were in the weeds again at the end of a work day.

Little brother looked at his mentor and said, "What do you think?"

Big brother, by now experienced and much wiser said, "I think we need to do more watchin'."