Missed Opportunities

Everything but the tractor

Saturday morning while I was driving back from a surgery in our neighboring town I saw a great photo opportunity. Clear skies. Early morning sunshine. A farmer in his blue jeans, blue tee-shirt, and a blue ball cap, riding on his trusty tractor-- John Deere green with the yellow wheels and trim, pulling a John Deere green and yellow corn planter. Not the big giant stuff one usually sees on many of the farms in this area. This was the old time stuff. A tractor the farmer rides on, not in. It was the perfect portrait of a farmer and his tractor at work on a beautiful sunny day.

I have started to carry a camera in the car and I have a cell phone camera as well. The sad thing is, in spite of having all the right equipment, there is no photograph to share. That's because, in the time it took me to see the tractor, to process the scene, and to consider the traffic behind me, I felt it was too late. On a two lane road between two small towns with little else on the agenda, I felt it was too late to pull over, turn around, and get the shot. So I didn't.

Barring a mechanical or medical emergency that farmer and his tractor will not be back planting in that field for at least another year. Not having a photograph of the perfect farmer on the perfect John Deere pulling the perfect implement is no tragedy. But the lesson here is about opportunities, about moments. If you are like me there are any number of moments that we encounter each day, week, month, and year. Taking a moment to call a friend. An evening to share a meal. Turning around to say hello. Leaving early to spend some extra time at home. Too often we are content in thinking "it doesn't matter" or "I'll do it later" or "I don't need to." And when we're lucky, we're correct. We can do it later, or it doesn't matter, or it doesn't need to be done.

But often enough it happens that we won't be so lucky and an opportunity will slip away forever.  Maybe not so bad if it's just a tractor in a field. But, then again, maybe it is. Much like with tractors working a field, when it comes to the care and keeping of friends and family, a certain diligence and sense of urgency may just be in order.