An Old Friend

Recently, my husband gave me some bad news. He said our golf cart was on its last leg. The frame was rusting out and we would have to purchase a new one. 
Now I know how that must sound. A golf cart in your backyard sounds like something a spoiled child would have but let me tell you, this golf cart is a work horse. I don't think we could have accomplished half of what we have in the past years without our golf cart.

I should say, my husbands golf cart.  I believe it was in 1995 that he got the golf cart for his birthday. I had looked around at local dealerships and settled on one not far from our home. The owner was a very nice man and although he was helpful in every way, there were still questions that I couldn't answer. I remember the year because that was the year we put the pond in and just using the golf cart to go back and fourth helped tremendously. The question of buying a gas or electric cart was just one of the questions that I wasn't sure of. I would have picked the electric because it was so quiet. But I would have been wrong. The gas cart is noisier but you can't beat the gas mileage. So instead of surprising my husband, we went together and purchased the cart.

He was very excited and I have to admit, I was too. As I said, the man that sold us the cart was just the nicest man and he gave us a very good deal. The cart was delivered several days later and he had cleaned the cart inside and out. It looked brand new. I forgot to mention that. It was several years old and if you know anything at all about golf carts, you know that they are rode hard. It was surprising to me how many people had never ridden or driven a golf cart. I don't know how many times we would have to give lessons to people who would visit and want to learn how to drive it.

We had one friend in particular who wanted to drive the golf cart and knowing her to be a reasonable person, my husband showed her the ropes, so to speak. She wasn't in it five minutes and managed to run over a three foot Red Maple and kill it. That didn't happen alot but recently a friend of mine wanted to show her husband that she could drive the cart so I gave her a lesson. She did very well but when I say we didn't exceed the speed limit by a long shot, I would be understating the situation. She was, however, very proud of her accomplishment.

Since we have had our Yellow Lab, Belle, she has ridden in the front, on the floor of the golf cart. It is not unusual to see her ears flying along in the wind as she peeks around the side. If she isn't invited to go along for a ride when you are in the cart, she pouts and sometimes just pushes her way in anyway. Of course, that is probably half of her weight problem! However, that is her treat for the day and she dearly loves it.

One thing that I have to admit to is, I was always concerned that the cart would fall into the pond one way or another.  A friend of my husbands bet me that the cart would take a dive into the water, within the year. To this day, I don't think that it has taken the tumble. As a matter of fact, I think most people would have felt that way. The dike around the pond is high and when you drive around the top, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that the cart could go down over the bank. I know a couple of people have fallen out of the golf cart. When you are flying over the grass it isn't hard to slide out. That's why you have to hang on to the top when driving at any speed. I remember when I was on a golf league there were a twosome that tried to go up a steep hill and the cart just backed down from gravity and the ladies toppled out. They never tried that hill again.

About a month after we had the cart my husband thought we needed a metal box that tilted to be added onto the back of the cart. If we could have added a horn and some lights to the cart, we would have been really happy. Anyway, that addition has been used every day since. The other day I used it to clear everything out of my vegetable garden. Do you know how many trips I would have had to do with a wheel barrel?  Just about anything that has to be done around the house and property, the cart can accomplish. My husband uses it to transport his plane and equipment up to the flying field. That would be a vacation for the cart. The poor thing over the past years has transported bricks, wood, ladders, trees...you name it, the cart has done it. I would say that it is probably the best piece of equipment we have on the property. My husband would be hard pressed to disagree, even though he dearly loves his John Deere.

What are the odds that we can replace the old golf cart with a new one and be satisfied? It doesn't usually turn out that way, at least for us. The cart has alot of sentimental value too. During my daughter and son-in-laws wedding, the cart would transport anyone that needed a ride to the back of the property to the tent. I remember my husband fixing the cracks in the body of the golf cart and he even painted the seats. It looked brand new by the time he was finished. I can't tell you how many times my husband and I would take the cart out to the pond and just sit there for hours just watching everything around us. The birds, the fish, the deer, rabbit and anything else that came into vision. We would drive back to the house in the dark, looking from side to side, making sure not to hit anything. Lots of times we would drive the cart to parties in the neighborhood. It would transport dishes and drinks and anything else we would need for the night.

From our backyard to yours, I'm sure going to miss the old workhorse!