Haying

This has been rattling around in my head since I read the article "Makin' Hay" in the Mary Jane magazine. You see when I was a kid, I was my gram's traveling companion. We would travel 837 miles to visit family up north. We would leave right after school was over and would come back right before school started in the fall. Sometimes we would stay at a cottage at the lake and other times we would stay at one of the family farms. I remember my Uncle Phil teaching my to drive the tractor during haying. I was to small to do the heavy work of taking the bales out of the baler and stacking them on the wagon. So I drove tractor that whole season. I was 9 at the time. The following year, it was time for me to learn how to help unload the wagon and put the bales on the elevator. Now what I am about to tell you next is what my Uncle talked about until his dying day. I was wearing jeans as I was a little allergic to the hay. There was a tiny hole about the size of a pencil eraser. Well, I was putting the bale on the elevator and sent it up. The next thing I know I don't have a pant leg. It happened so fast I didn't realize what happened. But, I was standing next to the open chain and the fray of the hole got caught in the chain. Uncle Phil, grabbed my and got me out of the way. He said he had seen men loose limbs that way and he was just amazed that I didn't loose anything. He was so shaken up, I got the rest of the day off. No harm no foul. LOL! The point to this story is that these are some of the reasons why I am heading back to the farm way of life. The lessons that I was taught back then have stayed with me. The confidence that Uncle Phil showed in me by letting me run the tractor. The hard work that brings since of accomplishment when the haying was done. Then the ability to know how to judge a situation for safety issues. Sometimes I still don't use the best judgement but I am getting better... LOL!
Sorry I was feeling just a bit nostalgic today. Must be cause it's haying time.

Gotta Run
Yart