My youngest daughter is learning to drive. We purchased a learner's permit and then we paid for the driver's education class offered at the local high school. She completed the class assignments and required driving sessions. Now she is required to drive with me for a minimum of 50 hours (for experience)...and then she can take her driving test (written and a practical).That is not how I learned to drive. A Dry Farmer learns by doing...and that is exactly how I learned to drive.
It started a long time ago. Actually I'm surprised I remember it. I must have been only four or five. My parents lived in town when I was really young but we frequently visited my grandparents on their dry farm. One of their primary crops was alfalfa, which they used to feed their dairy herd. They "hauled hay" in many ways; but my earliest memory was hauling hay in their 1949 Chevrolet pickup. My dad would start the pickup, place the truck in 'first gear' and then step out of the truck...leaving me 'standing' on the seat and holding on to the large steering wheel. I would then steer the pickup while the adults loaded the hay. My instruction? Move down the field and don't hit any of the hay bales!
I worked hard to drive that pickup. The steering wheel was huge and I remember using all my weight to turn it...and while the bales were in neat rows I remember constantly turning and adjusting that large steering wheel. I remember how fun it was to drive that pickup truck!
When I was in the third grade my parents moved from town to a small farm. As soon as we were on the farm I started driving tractors. We had a small Ford and a larger International Harvester (my favorite) tractor. We used the tractors constantly...my younger brother and I did most of the tractor driving. One of my earliest challenges in learning to drive a tractor was being strong enough to push and hold the clutch while changing gears...and having enough strength to use the left and right wheel brakes to turn in a tight circle. We used the tractors not just on our immediate farm but on leased land several miles away. So we frequently traveled paved and graveled public roads, sometimes with a load of hay and sometimes pulling equipment. I became a good driver.
I learned how to back up with a trailer or other two wheeled vehicle attached to the tractor. I learned how to back up, ever-so-slowly, while someone held the hitch for a particular implement and I backed the tractor into align with the implement. There was no room to be sloppy or jerky. My dad usually stood between the tractor and the implement, trusting that I would guide the tractor carefully and safely to make the connection. Often the connection between the tractor and the implement was accomplished with a 1" (in diameter) pin or bolt...the pin had to pass through the tractor's hitch and the implement's hitch; I took it as a challenge to back the tractor up, the first time, to put the hitches in precise alignment. I became very accurate in my driving.
As I got a bit older (late elementary school) my parents let me drive the cars and trucks we owned. Sometimes they let us drive on isolated farm roads. Once my mother and I were stopped by a police officer who had been waiting at the corner of our leased farm land. I was so scared; he asked my mom if I wasn't just a bit young to be driving. She had to admit I was...he told us not do it again...I should get a license before driving a car on public roads.
If there was any opportunity to drive, I immediately volunteered. I drove every car, truck, or tractor I could: dump trucks, grain trucks, neighboors and family cars and trucks, and John Deere tractors with hand clutches. All of the driving was done on the farm and in fields. I did not drive illegally, I just had many opportunities to drive vehicles related to everyday farm and field work.
By the time I was 14, I had been driving for 10 years. The driver's education class was easy...the driving came naturally...I still had things to learn, but understanding how to judge the position of the car, how to make tight turns, parallel parking, backing-up using mirrors, avoiding curbs and staying within lanes, or judging braking pressure was easy. I took the written test (no practical test was required in those days) and received my license. I was the oldest child in my family and instantly I became the family chauffeur (for legal public transportion...in addition to the farm-related driving).
I have been driving ever since. In fact, I have a hard time riding in a car when someone else is driving. I enjoy driving and I like the way I do it. I think I have driven close to a million miles since the age of four.
No, learning to drive today (for my children) is not the same as it was for me.
