b"Cowboy WisdomTHE TRACTOR WITH NO LIGHTSBy Pete FloresTexas rancher, passing on Cowboy wisdom and serving the Lord.Double H Hat CompanyIhad several roles when I worked at the La Paloma Ranch and I enjoyed them all. The specializes in custom handmadefirst chore of the morning was to feed the horses that we had in the pens. One morning felted fur hats in various styleswe were feeding and the foreman came up to me and said, Pete you need to go to your house and rest up because they need you to drive tractor tonight. La Paloma Ranch was a including western, gentlemen22,000-acre ranch and had several fields that were 300 acres in size. He said, There is rain on and ladies hats. The shop isthe way, and we need to finish plowing the fields. I asked the foreman What time should I located in under the longhornrelieve the day tractor driver? He replied, Be out there around 6:30 pm. You and the other We will custom build a hat toin Wickenburg. Jimmy the hatdriver can fuel up and grease the tractor. I said fit your unique style. Variousman (our Master Hatter) alsoYes sir, went back to my house, and jumped back styles include hats for theoffers hat cleaning, blocking andin bed. In about 15 minutes I got back up because I total renovation.could not sleep. I made some good strong coffee and Red Hat Society, western,began to read my animal science book and cattle gentlemens and ladiesmagazines. I kind of felt lost since I was now out hats. We offer a variety ofof my routine, but after reading some interesting embellishments, includingarticles I felt more at ease.custom inlays, for a unique hatSix o'clock came around; I jumped in the ranch custom designed for you. Jeep and drove to where the fields were located. I got there and we fueled and greased the tractor. The tractor was a Case 4890 four-wheel drive tractor with lots of horsepower. I parked the Jeep by the fence and started plowing the field. The farm manager had his own method of plowing. The first pass was always the same direction the field had been planted and the second pass was in a diagonal direction. I started close to the Jeep and as I drove and plowed, I was paying attention to the operation, but I was also running my research data through my head. I was working on the ranch and was also collecting data for my masters thesis. The thesis was called Seasonal Influences on Beef Bulls Semen Quality.Come midnight it was dark; it was one of those cloudy nights with no moon, and it was hard to see your hand in front of your face. I was glad the tractor had great light. I saw all kinds of wildlife as I plowed the field. At about 1:30 in the morning as I was plowing, the tractor lights blinked, I checked the gauges, and all was fine. I kept plowing for another twenty minutes and the lights blinked again. Gauges showed no issues. I went for a few more minutes and the tractor shut off. It was completely dead. No lights, the starter would not turn over, and I could not see in the cab. I felt around the cab to see if I could find a flashlight but did not remember seeing one. So, I had no choice but to walk back to the Jeep. I did remember that I was driving in the direction of the Jeep when the lights went out. I stepped out carefully and started to walk in the direction I remembered the jeep was parked. It was totally dark, I could not see where I was going, but I kept walking, and after walking for a while I thought I should be getting close to the fence. It seemed like I walked for an eternity but I made it to the fence. Now the decision was do I walk to the right or to the left. I decided to go right, but I remembered that I had parked the Jeep about 15 feet from the fence. I stood by the fence and walked 15 feet into the field. I walked 50 feet, stopped, and then walked back to the fence. I wanted to make sure I was staying at least 15 feet away from the fence and was not walking in a diagonal direction. I did that several times until I ran into the Jeep, jumped in, and headed back to the headquarters.Looking back at that night, I was ready for the daily chore of driving the tractor, but I had not planned or prepared for what might happen. The Lord wants us to live each moment and gives us the wisdom to live each moment. The Lord guided me to my destination and if you follow the internal wisdom he has given you, He will guide you to your destination too. 12 November 2023"