In July of 1996 I was grieving the recent death of my mother after her 18 month battle with cancer. Needing to run away for a weekend I got in the car and started driving west from Dundee, IL. At some point I decided to head towards the farm where the movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed. It is one of my all time favorite films and I thought it would be a nice distraction. It was, for about an hour. I then realized I was literally in the middle of the corn fields with little else to do. So I made my way back towards the expressway looking for something to do when I discovered the National Farm Toy Museum. It delivered what it promised, a warehouse sized building containing room after room of farm toys. Not actual farm equipment or farm animals but farm toys. Miniature tractors, trucks, and all sorts of equipment I was completely unfamiliar with. Being farm toys the signature green and yellow colors of John Deere seemed to permeate every square inch of the ‘museum’. Being a Chicago Bears fan being in proximity to this much green and gold (Packer colors) made me uncomfortable and a bit itchy. After spending an hour or so wandering the rooms, enjoying the air conditioning and wondering who on earth would have found the need to dedicate an entire museum to farm toys I headed to my hotel for a much needed nap. This is certainly an experience I would recommend avoiding if at all possible.