TUESDAY TRAVELISTA: KING OF THE HILL IN A DEERE

Dear Mr. J.D.,
 
Deere me!  That’s some showroom you have out there in Moline, Illinois. 

Jimmy was green with envy inside John Deere's shiny showroom, opened in 1997.

I have to admit, your showroom was not exactly my idea of a favorite travel destination, but my husband was so excited the day we visited your John Deere Pavilion that he couldn’t quit grinning from ear to ear (no, I’m not talking corn on the cob).  

I mean, take a look at Jimmy’s face.  Tell me that smile doesn’t come with enough sunshine to take the frost out of the back forty.

Boys and their toys!

Jimmy plowed right into admiring every one of your mean green machines with the yellow racing stripe. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning tearing through the presents under the tree.  

Why not a green tree?

There was certainly no shortage of presents under your tree. From combines as big as the broad side of a barn,

Do you think this color green makes me look big?

to your self-scouring steel plow that got it all started over 175 years ago,

You're the man!

to your Walking Harvester that looked like something out of the movie War of the Worlds (eat your heart out Tom Cruise);

I'd like to walk a mile in this guy's shoes.

your showroom looked like Christmas on Miracle-Gro.  Your elves have obviously been very busy.

I was trying not to be the Grinch that stole Christmas as my husband moved from one green machine to the next, oohing and aweing at regular intervals spaced an agonizing 10 minutes apart (okay, maybe 5 minutes, but time  seems to stand still when you think you've bought the farm).  Jimmy was ready to sell the farm to get his hands on your Vintage Waterloo Boy (circa 1917).  

No sign of Napoleon.

Luckily we don’t own a farm, although this tempting piece of propaganda on a tee shirt in your John Deere Shop next door was certainly reason to reconsider.  

Beats those office cubicles hands (and dirt) down.

I reminded Jimmy he was retired and there was no office; and no John Deere tractor in his future (sorry; no tractors in his past either; that didn’t stop my guy from dreaming big in all green); we could use a lawn mower, maybe, but no tractor.  We don’t even have enough lawn to warrant a riding mower.  Like most guys, I guess Jimmy just likes being King of the Hill every now and then.  

Getting down and dirty is what gets Jimmy's motor running.

We learned you were King of the Hill in 1878 when you beat out 50 other competitors at the Paris Exposition, taking home the coveted Sevres Vase for outstanding performance of your Deere Gang Plow. 

Who knew you'd hit pay dirt with a tractor. Wait, that's what tractors are all about.

Frank, obviously one of your taller Christmas elves, was quick to greet us when we entered your showroom, just as quick to tell us how your Deere Gang Plow took the farmer off his feet and put him into a seat for the first time ever.

Frank sure had the dirt on John Deere tractors.

I have to admit, today's mean green technology-driven Deere machines are quite impressive.  Farming has obviously entered the twenty-first century thanks to your innovations.  Your four-row picker introduced in 1980 was an impressive industry first, especially given field tests indicated it would increase operator efficiency between 85 and 95 percent.  Talk about King of the Hill!

I gotta hand it to you, you sure know how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

You seem to understand that we have to make the most of our efforts if we’re going to keep up with the 9 billion hungry mouths to feed by the year 2050. Obviously the planet isn’t getting any bigger to accommodate the growing numbers of people requiring food, shelter and clothing. Yes, it’ll be a tough row to hoe, but if anybody can do it, I’m now confident you can.  

That's a lot of zeroes!

After all, nothing runs like a Deere, right?!

Looks like you've made some big bucks with that motto!

Yes, J.D., you taught this city slicker a thing or two about respect for the land and respect for the farmers that work the land on our behalf in your mean green technology-driven machines. I wasn't surprised to learn you were ranked one of the 50 most admired companies in the world by Fortune magazine in 2011. 

When I dream green, it's usually a Ben Franklin, not a John Deere.

Of course, you of all people should know; as you sow, so shall you reap. 
 
Here's to being King of the Hill!
Tuesday Travelista