10 August
2026
The Best Laid Plans
Three of us were loaded in my pickup, headed out to check cows. The dog panted in the back, determined to come along no matter the heat. Windows were rolled up and the air-conditioner blasted, making it possible for us to squeeze in the single cab together. The radio sang happily along.
My daughter commented about the speaker. It was doing a thing, maybe like the one in a different pickup likes to do. I pondered that absently. It never seemed like my speakers had any problems. As I listened though I began to wonder. Was that sound part of the song?
Turning the radio down the noise was still there. That wasn’t good.
I stopped and stepped out to check tires on my side. Parked in the middle of the two track dirt road it was easy to see that the tires were fine. My son hopped out the passenger side and stopped immediately, there was definitely a problem.
Walking around to look I saw my rear tire shredded. The rim sat on the remains, nearly flat against the ground. My poor baby. I’ve had my pickup far longer than the children or husband. She is dear to me. And here she sat lame, injured, out of commission.
We were barely two miles from home. It was almost 100 degrees. The dog panted happily in the bed.
I called my husband.
That’s what you do when things go bad right? It’s what I do. He fixes things. Especially things like tires. That is not my area.
He came on a four-wheeler and looked it over. The rim wasn’t on the ground, it was protected by the remains of the tire. We could probably drive slowly home. So we began backing down the road. The ripple of shredded rubber the new sound track of our trip. He drove along side, watching to make sure the rim was alright.
The spare tire sits next to the pickups usual parking place. It fell off of the bottom where it had a special carrying spot. Luckily it fell of next to a cow tank. I pulled up to check water and there sat a random tire. Where could that have come from? Oh, it fell off my pickup.
So it went in the back. But I had to haul four-wheelers, or goats, or calves, or fence posts. So many reasons it was cast aside, temporarily, never to be put back where it goes.
Finally to the yard I let the children out. They get restless at slow speeds. Then we limped slowly on to the quanset where there was tire changing equipment. My husband stopped and got the spare. He made quick work of the job. In the hundred degree heat. My pickup was sound again. We could make sure the cows had water.
Thank Goodness for spare tires and good husbands.
