Haying season

I thinking haying season might just be a cultural thing.  Everyone out West, or at least, everyone in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, maybe a few other states besides, knows what is waiting after the thrill, and laziness of the 4th of July holiday.  Back-breaking, HOT, itchy, scratchy, WORK bucking bales! And if you're not picking, you're cutting hay, or baling it well into the night. It's an INTENSE, frenzied, whirlwind of a job for about 2 weeks- perhaps a bit more for the hay crews- and then, it's over. Done. The hay is in the barn, and you don't have to worry about it for another year.

But there's more to it.  A camaraderie that residents of other states may not understand.  When you're out in that field, bale after bale of fragrant hay stretching out in uniform rows, you hear the whirr of the tractors cutting and baling in the distance. You see the mountains framing the fields, and deer grazing in the freshly cut pastures. There's a peace around you- a timelessness in the work. You watch huge flatbed wagons pull in through the gates, with bright, strong youngsters leaping down to wrestle with the hay. You see the old timers still able to lift a bale in each hand, and sling them expertly onto the slowly moving trailer. Usually, there's a dog or two, plumy tails wagging as they roam over the land investigating smells, or jumping on the stacked hay for a ride- 

just as there has been for pretty much time immemorial. When you're driving your old truck down the road, and see an equally dented pick up coming towards you, you know where they are going, what they are doing, how they are feeling.... 

And this is how it was for us.  We got the call right after we'd finished picking up the debris from our home fireworks show.

 'Hay's cut. It'll be baled tomorrow. Come and get it.'

This year, we were at a bit of a disadvantage. Bruce's truck was in the shop, waiting for a new gas tank/fuel pump/and various repairs on the electrical system (don't ask!) so we hooked up our old trailer to our tractor, and down the road we went.

and it worked just fine.

Fortunately for Bruce and me (UNfortunately for Chelsey and Dan) our daughter and son-in-law were visiting. They just chipped in and helped- REALLY HELPED without us even asking!

We all took turns doing all the jobs- picking, stacking, driving tractor-

There's definitely a feeling of accomplishment throughout this job!

But picking is only the beginning. Because once you leave the field, you still have to stack all that hay in the barn.

 

 

This went on for several days...

Picking hay...

 

 Driving it back to the barn...

stacking it in the barn...

 

 

 

 

until, all the sudden...

we were done! 

ALL 6 tons of hay, maneuvered into place like a giant puzzle, waiting to be fed to some very curious, and appreciative mares!

 

and then, 

you find that you're not remembering the heat, and the sore muscles as being all that bad.

What you remember is the view...

the peaceful beauty...

the connection with ranchers, horse owners, and farmers down through the years.

 You remember the personal triumph, and sense of accomplishment, and the camaraderie of your hay crew. So, when it's time to do it again, you realize you don't really mind that much.

 

Haying season is a very special time of year. 

Once you've been through it, you never seem to forget it.

Walking up to get the paper

I woke, this morning, to gently falling snow- 

the ground covered in white,

but,

by the time I had breakfast, got dressed, and actually went outside with my camera, it was already melting FAST.  So, I missed that photo opportunity :(  

Instead, Bruce and I decided to walk up to get the paper, and of course, I made up for lost time with the images below.

The Shelties were READY to GO! and they kept racing ahead, turning around to race back to us.  My Dad used to say that for every mile he walked, his dog walked 5.  I think that's about right.

The clouds were spectacular.

 

We didn't see any wildlife this time, so the Shelties were given free rein to play and run. They found so many interesting smells!  Recently, a mountain lion took one of our fawns :(  While I just felt sadness walking past, the dogs discovered the scent of mountain lion, coyotes, crows and eagles, and could hardly be called off the site.

Piper (our sweet, almost 6 yr. old male)

Selkie (our darling 8 1/2 yr. old female)

They never get TOO far away, because they know I have treats in my pocket, which I dole out at odd times throughout our walks. It pays to be the one closest to me- you get your bone first. ;)

(Click on this photo to view it enlarged).

Because the Aspens haven't budded out yet, you can just barely see our house in the distance... (psst! it's that orangey colored dot in the center of the photo ;) )

Back home, it's time to read the paper and drink coffee and reflect on how grateful I am to live the life I live, where I live it. This isn't something I get used to or take for granted. Ever.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day fell on a Monday this year, meaning I had to work.  In this case, teaching the Preschoolers was a Godsend. Without them, their enthusiasm, their play- I'm afraid St. Patrick's day would have been a bit flat.

BUT, the preschool was exciting, because the preschool .....

HAD A LEPRECHAUN!!!

Even my most skeptical of preschoolers finally became convinced.  Isaiah resolutely told me last week that he didn't believe in leprechauns, and I told him truthfully that I'd never seen one.  And that MANY, many, many people did not believe in leprechauns either, so he was in good company. BUT, things just KEPT HAPPENING!!!  For one thing, we have these little paper leprechauns that I put on the wall for decoration, but they kept MOVING!!! and we NEVER SAW anyone moving them!!!  Add to that, the phone that rings with no one on the line, the papers and toys that fall when no one is near them... I mean... *shrugs*  What's a person to think???  And Isaiah became best at hearing soft "Tee hee hee" sounds coming from behind the piano! I mean, seriously, HOW do you explain THAT?

Before the weekend, the preschoolers spent an energetic, busy, (sometimes aimless- but that's beside the point ;) ) day devising and constructing Leprechaun traps!  Zane didn't want to leave his at preschool, even though we explained that we had the best chance of catching a leprechaun there because we had evidence that one had moved in.  As he left to go home, he made me PROMISE to call him if I found he'd caught a leprechaun.  Needless to say, they were all very excited to get to school to check their traps.  What they found was promising and disappointing.  All the pretend gold we'd used to bait the traps were gone.  :(  and some of the traps were broken, and had green toys shoved in them.  All the traps had a strange gold glitter on the bottoms.  But to top it off, our colored chairs were HIDDEN!!! and our green blocks were stacked up on the table.  ALL our green markers were missing!  There was some green threads of material stuck in Zane's trap! We were POSITIVE we had ALMOST trapped that tricky Leprechaun! but we couldn't find him anywhere.

And then, we found a box! Taped to the top was a note.  The note was from Daniel O'Toole, a Leprechaun from Ireland.

Apparently, he thought our traps were VERY tricky! and he'd ALMOST gotten caught!!! He took our gold, and then, discovered it was fake, but he'd had SO MUCH fun, that he decided to leave a treat for the preschoolers- a tiny pot of "gold" for each of them! (but instead of real gold coins, he'd given them CHOCOLATE gold coins! which most of them said they liked better than real money anyway!) He had to return to Ireland, but told them he wanted to come back to visit next March, because he'd had such a good time!  The children were thrilled!  When I handed little Zane his treat, he put his hands together, and said breathlessly, "THIS is the BEST. DAY. EVER!!!" 

As I waved good-bye, and climbed into my car for my drive home, I thought again about my job- actually I thought about retiring from my job, and once again, I wondered if I can survive without the gift of viewing Life's magic through a child's eyes. 

At home, I made a corned beef, and boiled cabbage.  YUM! And Bruce brought home GREEN flowers! :)  We had Luck of the Irish squares (mint and chocolate) And we had a wonderful dinner together.....

where the primary topic of conversation? was the preschoolers, 

and how they'd totally blessed me once again.

Erin go bragh!