Remembrance and Promise

[MikePA]

It's a cold and rainy day here in central PA and I just got back from the barn where I fed the horses. My wife works for a local dentist several nights a week and when she does, I get to do her chores, too. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] My first chore, upon arriving home from work, was to clean out the gutters.

So, I was partially soaked before my trek to the barn. Puddles, mud and hungry horses greeted me as I arrived. My wife had let them in their stalls all day due to the weather, so they began to pace in anticipation of being fed. Our QH watches me, the TB sticks her nose in her feeding tray and the Appaloosa paws at the ground underneath his. "Hold on, hold on," I say to myself, "I can't feed you all simultaneously."

As I climbed the ladder into the hay loft (we get to the hay loft via a set of drop down steps concealed in the ceiling of our tack room) and smelled the hay it brought back memories of a much warmer day when the hay was stacked.

As I cut into a new bale with a paring knife (hay lofts are the Bermuda Triangle for our paring knives), I thought about the baling process that wrapped these bales and flung them into the hay wagon.

As I dropped the hay into the hay racks (our hay loft is above the center aisle, which is flanked by the stalls, so we can drop the hay into the racks from above), I thought about all the work that I did, and the farmer did, to get this piece of summer into our barn.

I stood there for a minute, leaning against the mountain of hay bales I had stacked. I listened to the rain patter on the roof above my head which was answered by the contented munching of our equine diners beneath my feet. On a cold and rainy night, it's a warming thought to be reminded by the sweet smell of hay of both the summer that was, and the summer that will be.

[wasabi]

What nice musing, Mike. I can almost smell the hay. Thanks for sharing it.

[LazyJ_Arabians]

Haystacks and cordwood, both spiritually reassuring. I even find myself admiring my manure pile with the same reverence.

On "busting a bale", I've given this alot of thought after losing countless knives, scissors, and wire cutters. I've finally settled on the machete as the tool of choice. Whack, whack, then just jab it back into the next bale in the stack. Fast and I haven't lost a machete yet! I'm always carefull to cut the twine next to a knot because someday I'm gonna figure out a good use for pile I've accumulated.

[lblair]

We should all take a little time now and then to smell the roses and respect the simple things in life. I know i find myself doing that quite often. Its like giving the wife a nice long hug till ya both about fall over...its called Hugging till relaxed. The simple things in life...ahhhh yeah
Larry

[RichZ]

Great post, Mike!!

I often think of summer when opening bales in the winter. They're like little pieces of summer that you keep around to remind you of the better days to come.

By the way, I always keep a little pen knife in my pocket to cut the baling cord. We also keep a scissors hanging on a nail that my wife uses.

I often think how funny it is, that all the hard work of barn chores, are often one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. Even mucking stalls, is to me, enjoyable. I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when I'm done. And when the manure pile gets big enough, it's time to spread the manure in the hayfields. All the fertilizer wil ensure a good haycrop next year. It's all part of the circle of life.

Farmlife is good for the soul, and makes the ordinary person a philosopher. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[daedong]

Hi
on reading this post it brought back memories of when i trained harness racing horses. and i thought of opening bales of hay, so i will share this with you. I never use a knife or scissors to cut the twine just used another piece of twine, put it under the twine at right angles to the twine on the bale and with a rapid action with hands on both end alternately pulling upwards on each hand the friction cuts the twine