Night in the Hay

So, I was sitting on the back porch last night chatting with an old friend who’d stopped by and suddenly a man came out of the dark, around the side of the house, and said, “You gotta move that tractor and that truck so I can get in the barnyard!”

It was my hay man with a 24-foot trailer loaded down with 16 900-pound round bales and 50 square bales.

I was not expecting him.

I was glad I wasn’t by myself because I needed all kinds of help getting the tractor and truck moved in the dark. I learned to drive the tractor this summer, but I’m still lucky if I can remember how all the controls work in daylight much less in the dark. The tractor was not only in the way of the hay man getting into the barnyard, he also needed to use the tractor so I got it started then told him to “take over, farmer.”

One does not turn down a hay delivery. Especially when the hay man is offering to stack the square bales in the loft for you. You know, if I could also find the switch to turn on the hay elevator in the dark.

This was all eventually accomplished.

Notice he has a bale speared on both the front and the back. I found that fascinating…. I have a hay spear on the back of the tractor. He brought his own hay spear with him which he put on the front of the tractor.

And I woke up this morning to a pile of round bales in the front barnyard, which need to be moved elsewhere, but– I’m finished getting in my hay for winter!