We're not officially in a drought, the weather people tell us, but we're getting along the path to one. With the forecast saying it might rain early next week, it seemed a good time to make hay.
Tuesday, my dad cut the pasture with his John Deere B and No. 5 sickle bar mower. By Wednesday night, the leaves were already falling off the alfalfa due to the dryness. Baling it would probably make it worse, so Thursday afternoon, I got Zeus and Cassius out to bring it in loose on a wagon.
Wait a minute. . .nose baskets??
Aren't I supposed to be some kind of expert? Don't well-trained teams not need nose-baskets? Isn't it all about training. Haven't I written before about not needing nose baskets? Am I just some poser?
The social media age has encouraged all of us to compare our lives with everyone else's. Posting carefully curated images (like the ones accompanying this post!) helps us keep up with the virtual Joneses and their well-trained animals, clean equipment, and idyllic farms. It's given us all the ability to live under our own bridge and wait for the next victim to come clip-clopping over, if we'd like.
If we can really provide any service with this blog, hopefully, it's to show that a million little failures are needed along the way. Oxen are great, but the road can be bumpy.
But for the time being, the hay is in the barn, and we had a nice afternoon. Honest.
Good read, thank you for being real. Lets be honest, things don't always go like we would prefer, and yes sometimes we have to take a step back, adjust and try again!
ReplyDeleteI always ask, "Do you want to spend your energy getting work done, or fighting the urge of the oxen to grab a bite?" and put the muzzles on right from the get-go about 10 months of the year.
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