I counted (at least) four different kinds of hay in this handful
"Getting the hay up" is a science in and of itself. It involves constantly checking the weather, checking the ground to see if it's not too wet, cutting (swathing) the hay at the perfect time, fluffing the hay while at the same time not letting the sun bleach it, checking for slugs (which, I learned to my embarrassment, are not pests but, rather, wet hay), and then baling the hay and hoping your equipment doesn't break down (which it more than often does). Wet hay is bad to bale. Very bad. Like, it can burn your barn down "bad." Yes, WET hay can burn down a barn.
This wet green grass I turned over is what they call a "slug"
I love my farmer friends. They are dear. They are the salt of the earth. They work so hard and require so little. They start at sun up, pause for a prayer followed by lunch, and then back to work until sun down. They will do anything, for anyone, at any time - even when it is inconvenient for them. Hay season defines these hard workers and shows their amazingly awesome character of selflessness, integrity, honesty, willingness to serve, humility, patience, responsibility, generosity, and much more.
Loading five tons of hay
My neighbor swathing our hay on his day off (of his regular job)
To top it all off, they are teaching my son these traits and giving him life-long lessons that I pray he will use to better his life and the life of his future family.
Here, Robert can be seen fixing our fence line...
He didn't know how to do this a year ago.
Thank you, God, for farmers.
That's me on the an accumulator helping friends with their field.
I can't believe they trusted me :)
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