Father’s Day is coming and so it is fitting that my essay about my grandpa, titled The Tractor, should be published this month on Thread, a literary magazine.

Writing about the American side of my family (my mother’s) is a new venture for me. Hopefully this will balance the scales a tiny bit since my memoir coming out in Spring 2017 features my father’s side of the family, and my husband’s.

I very much wanted this essay to include the crackling recording I have of my grandfather interviewing me about the very work remembered in this essay.

Unfortunately the editor felt the quality wasn’t good enough. So I’m sharing it here (bonus: you get to hear my terrible German accent speaking English at age eight; but hey, at least I could speak!):

Removing a Tree Stump (turn the volume up all the way)

Below a photo of our own tractor these days and our whole wood-splitting operation.

Here’s to dads and grandfathers, and to work involving tractors and wood!