School children wait in all kinds of weather for the school bus to arrive, pick them up and deliver them safely to school.
: : :
Here, along a rural gravel road southeast of the Whitman County seat of Colfax and southeast of Moscow, I’D on Eidson Road ,
a creative wheat farmer re-purposes a combine cab.
As the old saying goes, ‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without,’
and the farmer has done just that,
taking the cab from a combine that no longer ran
and placing it at the top of their very steep,
long gravel driveway for his children to use as a school bus shelter.
Inside this combine cab, the children would have a place to wait out of the cold,
rain and snow during the late fall, winter and early spring months.
While there is no seat, it certainly is a ‘room’ with a view
and they would be able to see the bus coming,
with only a few steps from it to their bus door.
: : :
Here in the Palouse, I’ve followed several school bus drivers along their routes
on these rural gravel roads and I must say I admire their skills.
Yes, driving a 40′ school bus in the city is challenging,
I know, I’ve done that for 14 years,
with all the heavy traffic and at times weather does give us a good slam.
But my counterparts in rural counties,
also have to face slick mud, snow and ice on roads
that go without any maintenance in the way of
ice and snow removal in bad weather.
All of their buses that I’ve seen do have automatic chains though,
that’s a blessing!
To them I tip my hat!
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‘RURALITY BLOG HOP’ #5
It’s time for you to enter your photos in ‘Rurality Blog Hop – #5.’ ‘Rurality Blog Hop’ is open to everyone. Post something about rural life and and share it with us! The linky will open every Wednesday morning around 09:00 Pacific Time and will close Thursday at midnight.
GUIDELINES:
- Consider following me, ‘The View From Right Here‘, in most cases I’ll follow you back.
- Consider subscribing to posts from ‘The View From Right Here’ via RSS, via eMail), in most cases I’ll subscribe back.
- Please just ONE family friendly post about rural themes per week please.
- Rural photography, rural life, thrift, pets and livestock, recipes, crafts, etc.
- Submit the url of your ‘Rurality Blog Hop,’ blog post, not your main blog url, using the LinkyTools prompt below.
- Google+ users – submit the url of your posted photo on G+.
- Include the ‘Rurality Blog Hop’ badge (or a text link) in your blog post.
- Visit some of other entries, meet some new people and leave encouraging comments.
(I reserve the right to remove any post that is inappropriate and multiple entries from the same blog.)
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C o o l
Creative and resourceful! Love it. Thanks for hosting Madge.
Love the little red barn in the corner of your photo. Wonderful composition — finally got my act together today and am happy to participate. Thanks for hosting Madge. xo
I’d say he wins the title for most creative bus stop shelter!
Recycling at it’s finest!!! LOVE this!
I love how the red pops and the barn in the background seems to be ‘leaning’ like the combine cab :)
Love a creative farmer!
SUCH a lovely example of the ingenuity of the farmers and what a nice school bus shelter this is. So excited to have the Rurality Blog hop and happy it is doing so well!
What a smart and generous farmer! I love that it has a colorful red pop too! I had no idea you were a bus driver in a prior life ;) Glad I learned something new about you today. Thanks for hosting, Madge!
Interesting! I like the colors.
I love this! How clever!
I’ve never seen a bus stop quite like that – what a resourceful farmer!
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simple yet effective!
I’ve seen all kinds of bus stop shelters, but never a combine cab. Great way to recycle.
Thanks for hosting Rurality Blog Hop.
That’s a great idea for a shelter. Wonderful find.
oh that is so cool, i love that! i’ve seen little bus stop shelters around here but nothing that awesome!
Isn’t that clever?!? I love the barn in the background too! :)
Wow, what a fantastic find!
It certainly is a “room with a view”!! Perfect for its new use! Thanks so much for hosting Madge~
This is a good example of recycling. I bet those children are glad to have it.
I admire school bus drivers, no matter where they drive. Dealing with that big bus, AND the kids can’t be easy. Add in snow, ice and mud….whew!!
Beautiful image! I am impressed with the farmer’s skills! (I’m sure his children is as well!)
Now THAT is creativity! Love this idea!
cool looking bus stop
That school bus shelter takes the cake for originality, in my book! Wonderful!
What a creative way to recycle ..perfect for the school kids. Great shot!
a beautiful and creative way to recycle… i wish i had one like this when i was in school, we stood in rain, sleet or whatever.
While living in Central California, near Beale AFB, I went for a drive on the Smartville road. There, I saw a similar reappropriation of a vehicular part. It was the nose cone of a B-52 Stratofortress bomber. The pointy end was up and looked to provide sufficient shelter from the notorious winter wetness of North Central California. I did a double take, and regretted, once again, not having my camera. Thanks for bringing back that particular memory.
how inventive of that farmer! When we lived in the country, we didn’t farm (but did garden). So when my youngest started going to the county school, I had time to wait with him. (our lane was also graveled and 4/10 of a mile from our house)
How odd to see this in what appears to be the middle of nowhere!!! I can’t say that I’ve ever seen in such a rural setting!!!
When I was growing up we used to see a lot of ‘bus stops’. That isn’t so much the norm anymore. I think it’s because so many parents drive their kids to and from school these days. I think those kids who never ride a bus are missing out on a social part of school life that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. And, they miss out on getting to know that school bus driver too. Mine was a dear man I’ll never forget.
LOVE this find Madge! A truly resourceful farmer!
Great find! You’re right: rural bus drivers deserve a tip of the hat.
That is amazing what a clever farmer.
I admire any school bus drivers in the city dodging the traffic with all those kids in the back of your bus and in the country like you said the weather and road conditions play havoc plus the noise of those kids.
Good for you being able to do it so well. B
Very neat idea! I like that red house in the background too!
Great reuse of old farm equipment! How clever and resourceful. Wonderful photo!
What a cool idea!
We have some bus stop shelters, too, but nothing as cool as this one!
That is someone who really loves their children. I admire you and all of your counterparts in the education field. My wife is an elementary school librarian, the things she talks about dealing with 435 students on a daily basis, I could not do it. Thank you for helping our children get to and from school safely everyday.
That is pretty clever…and most appreciated, I’m sure!
That’s some good thinking & creativity… makes a great bus stop!
Now that’s not something you see everyday.
Hi Madge, I have a good blog friend who lives in Canada and drives a school bus every single day. She’s not young —but will drive that bus in all kinds of weather. Amazes me….
Glad they provide shelter for school kids waiting for the bus… Neat!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy
Started my new Photo Blog today. Check it out. http://betsyphotoblog.blogspot.com/
That is the best recycled combine I have ever seen! What a good daddy those children have.
How creative… wonderful capture!!
Little bus sheds used to be the norm around where I grew up and I am sure a blessing to the kids on bad weather days (they used to not call school off until there was more snow than you could plow through – or so it seemed). Neat shot.
this big city gal LOVES your new MEME and all the photo ops i get to see that connect me to another way of life
I would hate to try and drive one of those huge buses! I’m amazed at people who can do that. I love that the combine cab is being used for such a great purpose.
Country ingenuity at its best! I’ve visited your area once and it was gorgeous–and no allergies the whole time I was there! Thanks for hosting this hop–lots of good reading ahead of me, I can see that.
Hi Madge, visiting over from Granny Sue’s. My early early years were on an Alberta Ranch, now live on a rural road on a coastal island in BC. and currently working way up north, very rural, nothing but the work camp and snow and the job. Travel home every third week and work on my garden/yard/home stuff. Thats the current picture. I am following and I added a post today too. Thanks for hosting. Lots of good living in Alberta memories from your post.
Rob
Hi Madge, I am also visiting from Granny Sue’s today. I grew up (see Rob just above, my brother) in rural Alberta and remember the bitter cold deep snow winter walks to the bus stop. We had a sort of 3 sided shed but what I remember most was that the winter bus was a big old war time transporter with those cat wheels. The big kids got the benches and the little kids were on the floor. I remember how scared and cold I was as a little six year old. Parents moved from the ranch and we had to satisfy ourselves with big gardens, canning and freezing food. 59 years later I live in right on the edge of farming country and have a small garden. I can hear the horses, cows and coyotes though. Your blog brought back a lot of memories for me. I am following and will be visiting again.
Joy