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Have you ever driven a tractor? It’s pretty fun! I grew up on a farm, so there were always tractors around. My first chance to drive one was when I was about 10. For some reason, kids who grow up in the countryside here are often given a chance to drive (small) tractors even from a young age. It may seem dangerous, but you’ve got to learn the ropes early on if you live on a farm!
Unfortunately, the first tractor I drove was hooked up to a wagon, and the back of the wagon got caught on a fence and caused a bit of damage, so my father didn’t let me drive the tractor again for a while!
However, I eventually ended up working as a tractor driver at a strawberry farm in my late teens and early twenties. Since high school students in Canada have a two-month summer vacation (and university students have three months off), I was able to do this as a summer job for several years. Amazingly, I only got a sunburn once (though it was a pretty bad one). Overall, it was a very peaceful job and I enjoyed it
Recently, when I visited my parents in the countryside, I got to see my father’s old tractor, which is still running well, in action again. He’s using it to help build a new house that he designed, which has been a lifelong dream of his. While I stopped driving tractors long ago, my dad is still (and always will be) the Tractor Man.
The idiom “to learn the ropes” simply means “to learn how to do a job or activity.” For example, when you start a new job, it usually takes a few weeks (or even months) to learn the ropes.
If something is “hooked up to” something else, the two things are connected. For example, my Bluetooth speaker is hooked up to my laptop.
If you “get to do something,” you have the opportunity/chance to do it. When I visited my parents, I got to see not only my father’s old tractor but also my parents’ six crazy and silly cats!
A “lifelong dream” is a goal or ambition that you have had for a long time - something that you have always wanted to do. One of my lifelong dreams is to visit Ireland.
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