Mid Michigan Old Gas Tractor Association Website (MMOGTA)

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W e e k l y F e a t u r e P a g e
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The contents of the “Weekly Feature” page are provided to you for your entertainment, amusement, and perhaps information. Here you may find articles of interest, pictures, historical information on the Club, or whatever shuffles to the top of the pile on our desk. The only defined characteristic of this space is that we will make every effort to change/replace it around the middle of each week. Thank you for visiting, and please stop by again. Click on any photo to see it larger in a separate window.

Let’s Review

New Year’s Eve, 2010! How the hell did we get here? Did we just stand there and let it happen? Did we make it happen? Well, in my case, it took .65 centuries to do it, but then, I’m probably not the fastest duck in the river. Here we are, 10 years into the second of the two centuries we were fortunate enough to see, and our second millennium as well. Seems like cause for celebration to me.

I know, I know, lots of pundits are inclined to prattle on about how bad the times are, and how gloomy the outlook is, but those types just aren’t satisfied unless they have a crisis to sell. Did you ever see a newscaster that could stop himself from ending a story with, “….and the worst is yet to come”? It’s almost a mantra for the talking head guys. I think they feel that when the crisis de’jour is over, we won’t really be needing their intrepid, on-the-scene reports anymore. And maybe we don’t.

I like to think that out here in the Heartland, we have a pretty good feel for how things are going. Feet on the ground, hand on the wheel, spoon in the soup kind of feel. We sure know that things are tougher now than they were a few years back. That all is not perfect. That there is plenty of room for improvement. That we’re getting older and grumpier with each passing year/decade/century. But with a little reflection, it seems to me that it’s still worth trying to hang on for another decade or two, just to see how it all turns out.

Maybe, from time to time, a person needs to stop and glance around for a moment or two. Get a little perspective. Compare. Folks are always inclined to bitch about the stuff they don’t have, or haven’t been able to do. Let’s try that exercise for a moment; let’s see, so far this year I have not: Been trapped in a mine. Lived through a flood. Experienced an earthquake. Stepped on an IED. Had to rely on FEMA for emergency relief. You get the point, you don’t have to look far to find someone who would gladly trade shoes with you.

Remember all those slacker teenagers we used to grumble about a couple of years back? They were all tethered to their gaming system, oblivious to our parental guidance, while a set of headphones pounded even more “stupid” into their heads. Well, a whole bunch of them are currently on extended duty in enemy territory, dodging projectiles that are clearly not of Nintendo origin, trying to keep the world safe for all the rest of us. My guess is, they would gladly swap their sandbag barriers and sniper scopes for your recliner and plasma screen.

So, sure, things could be better, but they could also be a lot worse. Gotta’ keep a little perspective, is all. They still make some Chevys in Flint, they still make some Fords in Detroit, the corn and beans will come up again in the spring, and life will go on. Happy New Year to all the friends of the MMOGTA !

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