Country Corner

                              Magic Carpet Ride

I grew up a third generation farm girl in Eastern Utah. Our farm grew hardy cattle and strong girls.  I was the youngest of five children. It was important to work hard and finish our chores. It was also important to play and to learn to play hard. I celebrated my birthday in mid January. The Uintah Basin can be mighty cold during that time of year. Nevertheless, my father knew how to throw his daughter a country charming good time. Farmers are resourceful, it’s in their blood. He would take the hood of an old chevy truck and turn it over, cover it in thick Navajo blankets. He would back up the         tracker  to it in the middle of our wide open frozen farm ground. Then he would  carefully tie a rope from the hood to the tracker and we were ready for a screaming fun afternoon in the field. I remember climbing onto the rug and being amazed at how fast and furious the thing would fly. My friends and I would scream in anticipation as we would pick up speed rounding the corners at the bottom of the property. We could only be persuaded to give my dad a break by the mugs of hot cocoa my mother would have waiting for us inside. The Magic Carpet is such a sweet memory of my childhood.      

My parents celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary this past summer in that same beautiful field. Of course that day would not have been the same without my seventy nine year old father smiling that grin at me that said without words, “Don’t you think it’s time to bring out the magic carpet ride?” So with the energy of someone in their youth he attached the four wheeler in the yard to the turned over chevy pick up hood. My six children along with other cousins piled on and took off down through the country. You could hear their laughter for miles. They too could only be persuaded to give their grand father a break by the tall pile of water melon slices prepared by my mother. There are no words to express the joy of watching three generations of farm girls ride the magic carpet. One thing I can say for sure is that growing up a country girl was magic.