thebigp

April 9, 2024—printed off 4/10/24
Victor Davis Hanson
Here are my top ten encounters of a strange kind over the last decade in what used to be the safest, most wonderful rural space in the world.
1. The Tragic Dead. Two years ago, I came upon a parked abandoned Volkswagen with a deceased person in it. This was a real tragedy of someone who drove out to the farm’s most scenic spot above the pond, rolled up all the windows of a small Volkswagen, and apparently committed suicide by overdosing. I hoped at least the scenic view of the full pond, the almond trees, and the cottonwoods in the distance gave the deceased a last minute of calmness.
It was, however, unfortunately at the height of summer, when summer temperatures often reach 105-110 degrees, in this spot well-hidden and mostly bypassed by most trespassers. Thus, the deceased was not discovered for well over a day or two. It was a very disturbing sight to walk up to the car and be overwhelmed by what nature does to the dead in San Joaquin Valley heat. I still have an occasional nightmare of the scene and hope the person did not suffer in extremis. For a year afterward, the dogs became animated from the lingering scent in the soil whenever we passed even a hundred yards from the row. (I avoid the spot even today.)
2. The Semi. Last year, parked in our alleyway I encountered a 75-foot-long semi-truck with a double trailer. The back cargo doors were open, and I assumed l**ted. But stranger still the cab was disconnected and rested on tree stumps from a nearby pile! It was stripped of almost everything inside and outside.
What would be the weight of the rig and trailers when full 70-80,000 pounds? How could such a stolen monstrosity be driven down a narrow dirt alleyway, hidden between two orchards, and in a single night dismantled?
And how did the thieves know where to park it? How did they steal all the cargo and strip the truck in a single night, as we and the neighbors less than ¼ mile away, slept soundly? How did the truck-jackers put the huge cab up on stumps? How did they find the props in the dark?
I had no answers then or now to explain the strange engineering feat and sheer audacity of criminality.
3. The Spray Rig. Months earlier, I stumbled upon a huge spray rig, the older sort that has a self-contained diesel engine that runs the fan and pump without a PTO (Power take-off). I had no idea what toxic liquid was in it since the smell was of a pesticide I did not recognize (but may have scared away the thieves).
It apparently had been stolen from some farmyard, towed to our orchard, and then stripped. But my puzzlement was this: The motor was ancient and seemed intact. The piston pump looked worse, but still there. The cowling was rusted but not ripped off. Was it stripped of something I missed?
I scarcely made out the name of the farmer-owner stenciled on the side. It was from a community near Stockton some 130 miles to the north. How did it get to our farm? When I called the number fading on the ancient rig, I was shocked to talk to the owner who said he had just the evening before reported it stolen.
He picked it up five hours later and apparently fixed the two flats and drove out with a resigned smile as if “Things do happen, Mr. Hanson,” on his way up the 99 at dusk.