A Man on a Tractor With a Dog in the Field

I think most everybody knows by now so I thought I'd break the news here. Our time in Taipei is coming to a close prematurely. To make a long story short, I work for the best company in the world and they understand that I need to be at home right now to be with my mom and dad while he is busy beating cancer.



This weekend I stopped by between a week in California and a few days in Boston this week. I was able to surprise mom and dad for his birthday in Brenham at Kristi's house and we had a great day. I also surprised them with the news that we're coming home for good on December 17th. In retrospect, I'm thankful that our house in Pflugerville hasn't sold.

We've been spending the better part of a year chasing something that's clearly not within our grasp right now. So we're anxious to move back home and just live our lives and be satisfied with the many blessings including the proximity of family and friends.

Yesterday as I was driving back to Pflugerville from Brenham I heard a song by Rodney Atkins that never really meant much to me, but now it means everything. So as of today, this is no longer the "American Expat Edition" by the "Man on a Tractor Edition" as we prepare to say goodbye to a very unsettling 2008:

I woke up the same way this morning
Like a stranger in my own life
Tired and confused with too much to do
Nothing left for my kids and my wife
Oh I clung to that first cup of coffee
Praying god, won't you show me what's real
Then out in the distance I saw through the window
A man on a tractor with a dog in a field

The dog walked just like it was smiling
The man drove like the world was all right
The tractor hummed on like a part of a song
That you sing to your children at night
His work was laid out there before him
In rows of green, his whole life was revealed
Oh what I wouldn't give if I could just live
Like a man on a tractor with a dog in a field

[Chorus:]

Let me do what I'm doing
Let me be where I am
Let me find peace of mind
On my own piece of land
When I'm lost, help me to let go
And find someway to feel
Like a man on a tractor with a dog in a field

There I was watching and wondering
My wife came down and sat beside me
She said. "it's not about living another man's life
It's about seeing your own differently
Oh this home that I love and my children
What more could one man hope to yield
Then she touched my face
And said, "there's more than one way
To be a man on a tractor with a dog in a field

We'll be home for Christmas, you can count on that.