It has become fashionable to embrace things and activities that are from a former era. In other words, “old” is now the new “new.”

This is great news for people like me, who never threw out those bellbottoms that young hipsters are currently wearing in order to appear hip. They might think that wearing such clothing is done in an ironic manner, but it just makes them look moronic.

Lost somewhere in the dusty archives of our family photos is a snapshot of me at the age of 10. I’m kneeling beside our International Harvester single disk with a grease gun in my hand. A piece of masking tape is holding the bow onto one side of my glasses — this was typical for me at that time — and I’m wearing a grungy, tattered, long sleeved sweater. The sweater is knitted in such a homely pattern that it would make Charlie Brown look like a fashion maven.

I really miss that old sweater! I wish I knew where it might be. Although in all fairness, it probably wouldn’t fit anymore.

Maybe it isn’t the sweater that I yearn for as much as the feelings I had when that snapshot was taken. It was one of the first truly warm spring days and I couldn’t wait to get out into the field and commit some serious acts of tillage. At least as serious as that rickety little disk could accomplish.

Just outside the frame of that photo is our family’s John Deere “A” tractor. Dad had recently purchased the tractor at a farm auction, so this was another reason for my eagerness. I was looking forward to experiencing the “A’s” studliness in the hope that some of it would wear off on me. The fact that I was wearing the most anti-studly sweater known to man was lost on me.

We still have that old “A”. She sits in a corner of my shop, looking every bit as eager to get out into the field as she did on that springtime morning more than half a century ago.

I decided to fire up the old girl one recent balmy afternoon. She sputtered to life in a matter of seconds, her engine popping as soothingly as a mother’s heartbeat. It made me wish that we still had that ancient single disk.

I had been toying with the idea of giving the “A” a new paint job. I mentioned this to Gary, a friend of mine who has more antique tractor restoration knowledge under his fingernails than I’ve acquired in a lifetime.

“As soon as you finish painting a tractor, the paint begins to deteriorate,” Gary said. “That’s true even if you keep it indoors. There’s a school of thought these days that says you should leave a tractor the way that you found it, that you should let it wear its honest history and preserve its weather-beaten look.”

This was an interesting take on things. It was even more interesting because it meant that I didn’t need to do anything with the “A”, and I’m an inherently lazy person.

Don’t tell our toddler grandson, but I’m thinking about making a plan to create a small woodworking gift for him. If things go well, I might eventually graduate from planning to plan to doing some actual planning.

I have a few power woodworking tools but hope to complete the project using only hand tools. Mistakes will no doubt be made — these are known in the woodworking profession as “whoopsies” — but they will simply add to the item’s rustic, retro charm. At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself.

My wife and I inherited a couple of hand-powered woodworking tools from her stepfather, Duane. They include a block plane and a miter saw, both of which are likely older than I am.

The tools were incredibly rusty when we received them. This was easily remedied with a packet of steel wool and the judicious application of elbow grease. The tools don’t look as good as new, but I have tested them and they appear to be fully functional. I wish I could say the same about me.

Could the woodworking project be completed with power tools? Absolutely. Would that be as satisfying as creating it using only hand tools? Probably not. Besides, even though more than five decades have passed, that overeager ten-year-old boy is still lurking around somewhere inside me. We need to teach that kid the value of patience and how to take your time and do things right.

And if I could just find that ratty old sweater, I would be right in style.

— Jerry’s book, “Dear County Agent Guy” can be found at www.workman.com and in bookstores nationwide.