Friday, August 27, 2010
Hay making time
It was in the middle of the summer, during the haying season.And I just loved to watch the hay wagons in the field as the horses pulled the wagon along the hay windrows, The loose hay from the windrows went up the loader and dropped on the wagon while father arranged the hay on the wagon. When the load was full, He would bring the load up to the barn and with many a whoo, gittup,gee,(right turn) haw (left turn) back up easy now, He got the horses to park underneath the gable roof overhang where the ridge track would take the hay up into the barn. I watched Father and Grandpa take the big fork and stab it into the stake of hay on the wagon.. The fork was fastened to a long rope that went up to the ridge track through a pulley and then down to a horse. And another man made the horse walk, and that would haul the forkful of hay up into the barn and it would drop down in a big pile to be used in the winter . Load after load went into the barn.And I wondered where all that hay was going,so once the last load was done for the day I made my way over to the outside barn door and peeked in, Too afraid to go in with such a big pile in there.I was more of a timid nature and if someone told me to stay away till they are done, I stayed away big time,I was even afraid of going up into the hay loft for fear of falling down the hay hole, Where we'd throw the hay down to the cows,But one day our cousins were there and they had no fear of the hay loft and soon I overcame my own fears and joined in the fun of playing hide-n-seek,And before I knew it I got to close to that hole and stepped on that loose hay ,And fell down that hole landed on my back right smack in front of the bull tied up at the stanchion, scared him that time ,and scrambled away from him as fast as I could and ran for the house just a bawling with the rest all behind me, Mom made me lay down to keep watch over me, I lay there with my eyes closed trying to sleep then I heard Mom and Dad come very quietly to check on me, I heard them say is she still breathing, do you think shes OK yes shes sleeping we'll see how she feels once she wakes up, That attention was very fun,I did fall asleep then and woke up just fine. much to the relief of my parents.
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My mother tells stories of her childhood, growing up on a farm and putting up hay like this. She used to have fun, jumping into the hay mow with her cousins when it was full of hay. Sounds like fun to me.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you've got some wonderful reminiscences. Please keep sharing! Bless you.
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