When my brother and I were growing up on the farm, we had a horse named "Red" that we rode to round up the cows for milking. Over a period of time, he developed a habit breaking into a run when the barn came into sight. I can only assume it was because he was happy to get us off his back. More recently, Julia Roberts starred in a hit movie, "The Runaway Bride," about a reluctant woman who bolts just prior to her wedding.

Last week, my soon-to-be 20-year-old pickup joined the growing number of runaways. Early in the morning, I was headed out of the driveway when I suddenly remembered I had forgotten something in the house. I slipped the truck into neutral and left the truck idling in what I thought was a depression in the driveway. I got out, walked around the truck, and went back into the house. When I came out, "Old Red" had taken off without me.

I've been watching the news about the war in the Mideast and the unmanned drones that are used in the conflict. But I am sure that technology wasn't available when they built Old Red. Looking down the driveway and over toward my neighbor's yard, I could see Red had cut a swath, destroying half of my neighbor's bush, then going directly over an iris bed and coming to rest with the front bumper up against a tree in her yard.

Now, I have a slight divot in the front bumper to match the ones in the rear. My kindly neighbor has about half of a bush gone from her side of the road. However, I consider myself lucky because without the help of the neighbor's greenery, Old Red could have been racing down Horton Street and ended up who knows where.