It was one of the happiest times of my life. After 25 years of service with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, my countdown to retirement finally came to a blissful conclusion on May 31, 2010. Upper management had decided two and a half years previously to move my entire group back to Washington, DC, having moved us all out to Omaha seven years before that. I gave myself a few days to pack all of the stuff I’d taken with me into a rented truck, put my car on a tow dolly behind it, and started my long drive halfway across the country back to my wife, my dogs and cats, and my home. Along the way I stopped for a day to visit my old freshman-year college roommate, a dear friend, near Columbus, Ohio. On my free day with him, he took me for a drive into Amish country. Along the way, near the village of Brinkhaven in Knox County (population 125), I saw an old truck sitting on a hillside in the middle of a field of daisies. I asked him to pull over while I scampered up the hill for a better look. It was an ancient International, and it appeared to be in surprisingly good shape, though it had obviously been left there quite a few years ago. I figured it had been such a faithful and treasured family member that its people had decided to honor long years of service by simply putting it out to pasture. One could do much worse.
krikitarts 
Great find.
From a fellow derelict-lover, thanks for the compliment, Dan!
It’s fun to think of inanimate objects as having been thought of in a humanistic way…that resting place would be perfect for just about anyone or anything!
That’s exactly what I thought. What a wonderful way to go while gently submitting to the inevitable entropy.
Loved the theme…….but also the sad reality of life to-day which seems governed by the perceived wisdom that you constantly have to change/restructure/reorganise…and forget the real cost to those involved and their families. Change for change sake.
Change is most assuredly not always for the better–too right!
Very nice picture, Gary – I can see this in one of the travel mags – National Geo? Good stuff! Adrian
Wow, that’s a high compliment! Maybe some day…
Beautiful!
They sure don’t make ’em like that anymore. I always get excited when I see one of these oldsters, even when they’re not in running condition. It looked like someone really cared about and took good care of this one.
Green grass, blue sky, and daisies…very much appreciated on yet another snowy and cold day.
We had the blue sky today, but it’s going to be quite a while before we see green grass and daisies again. In fact, I was just considering a new post, and you’ve hopped in at just the right moment–need another something summery…
Lovely image! Well worth the scramble up the hill.
It wasn’t all that steep, but the hardest part was trying not to leave an obviously-careless tramping trail through all of those lovely, delicate daisies!