The Current Normal – Making Hay While the Sun Shines
These photos were taken July 12, 2020.
There! Now I have used the title, prompted by the photos I thought I had captured, during my “Mind’s Eye” ride. Unfortunately clumsy fingers left me bereft of any photo evidence of the day.
Hay is grass, legumes and a variety of other plants that are cut and dried for use as fodder for large animals (cattle and horses) during the periods when pasture grass is not an option (winter, droughts, etc.). It can be made up of a variety of grasses (timothy, fescue, brome, etc.), as well legumes, such as alfalfa and clovers.
(Source:Wikipedia)
The smell of the alfalfas and clovers was like heaven during our bike ride on the day before.
Typically, in a good year, there are two hay cuttings in a season, the first in mid to late June and the second in September. This first cut was late, due to all our rain.
The farmers had been hard at work cutting the hay during a relatively dry period, now they could only hope it would stay dry enough, for the hay to fully cure, ready for baling. a day later, there was a huge rain/hail storm. So much for that idea.
On the Saturday, the farmers were busily making the rounds with tractors and hay mower-conditioners to do the cut. The conditioner consists of two rollers that crimp and split the stalks to promote faster drying.
On Sunday AM, the swaths did not really look like much. One can only hope it was worth the effort.
Making Hay While the Sun Shines
Tractors circling fields,
making hay while the sun shines.
Food for long winter.
not much of a swath to show for the effortdrying hay, soon to be wetnew mown haythe bottom land was too wet to mow….maybe later
Not much to tell. After working for 3 companies over 43+ years (38 years 7 months with my last company), I finally got that promotion I had waited my entire career for……retirement.
I have been exploring this new career for the past 7+ years and while it is not always exciting, the chance to do what I want for myself and my family instead of what my company wants has been very fulfilling. Early on, there was a long list of projects in my “to-do” hopper and I attacked these projects with a vengeance for the first 9 months of retirement. Eventually, my brain told me that this was not what retirement was about, so it took me another 5 months before my industriousness again took over and I attacked another line of projects, this time somewhat shorter and less complicated, as well as many new projects related to the family weddings in 2016. After going hard for 6 weeks and 3 weddings, my body was telling me to relax, then the flu bug hit and as soon as that was done with me, my sciatic acted up. No rest for the wicked. In 2020 and 2021, the Covid 19 pandemic changed the whole retirement gig. I was lucky to not be still working, for sure.
I enjoy photography, gardening, working with my hands, walking, cycling, skiing, travelling, reading and creating special photo and video productions obtained in my first pastime. I may never become wealthy in any of these pursuits, but I already feel I am rich in life experiences far beyond any expectation.
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8 thoughts on “The Current Normal – Making Hay While the Sun Shines”
I love to stumble upon a feald with freshly cut hay, there’s plenty of them in Ireland and they are usually filled with variety of bird species looking for food. Thanks for sharing and have a lovely day 😀 We are finally getting ready to go back to school in two weeks, who knows how this semester is going to turn out. All you really need is for one toddler to sneeze 😂
The birds (particularly redtail hawks) were swirling around behind the tractor the day before, waiting for anything to scurry out. We know two families with young kids and Mom’s who are teachers, that are trying to figure it all out. The government has no plans to reduce class sizes, so physical distancing is not possible. Can you say second wave. Our numbers are already taking a big jump, as people relax a bit too much. All we can do is look out for ourselves. Thanks for reading Aiva and stay well. Allan
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I love to stumble upon a feald with freshly cut hay, there’s plenty of them in Ireland and they are usually filled with variety of bird species looking for food. Thanks for sharing and have a lovely day 😀 We are finally getting ready to go back to school in two weeks, who knows how this semester is going to turn out. All you really need is for one toddler to sneeze 😂
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The birds (particularly redtail hawks) were swirling around behind the tractor the day before, waiting for anything to scurry out. We know two families with young kids and Mom’s who are teachers, that are trying to figure it all out. The government has no plans to reduce class sizes, so physical distancing is not possible. Can you say second wave. Our numbers are already taking a big jump, as people relax a bit too much. All we can do is look out for ourselves. Thanks for reading Aiva and stay well. Allan
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I used to love watching this from my daughter bedroom window when I visited her.
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I used to see this all around me when I lived on the farm. Then, it meant work, now I can enjoy the work of others. Thanks for reading Susie. Allan
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I miss visiting my family 👪
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I’m with you. Seeing there is not as good as being there. Stay well.
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Super glad ours got cut and baled quickly with no water damage. I also love to watch it but am glad we aren’t the ones who have to do it.
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That is good news. Yes, I had enough haying to last me a lifetime, growing up on the farm. Thanks for reading Bernie. Allan
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