Brad Nelson

Farm kids and town kids can be light years apart, even when those town kids are from small rural communities.

Favorable winds are always desirable. We had two high school graduations to show up for this year. They were three days and 2,000 miles apart. Driving expenses were less than half the cost of airline tickets, so I used that as the excuse to drive.

Just the other day I joined a “jumper cable” party that had been underway for some time before I arrived on the scene. Two little cars were parked with the front fenders almost touching, and both hoods were open. Jumper cables ran from one car to the other.

I fear that some of the freedoms we enjoy in America are all too often taken for granted. Unless we spend more than the required time in school reviewing our country’s history, we may not have a good handle on the cost that was paid to ensure that we and our children and grandchildren continue to have these freedoms.

Survival skills can be just so much bluster and bluff. Survival history is a completely different beast – heavy on the “beast.”

Truck operating procedures can be straightforward – or not. Radiator shutters were once part of the temperature control system for the engines on heavy trucks. They seemed to work well when new.