Spontaneous Hay Day

Not sure what to do with the family on a sweltering summers afternoon? Tired of going to the pool, grilling in the back yard? Why not try having a spontaneous hay day (SHD)! For your very own SHD all you need is a friend with hay fields that have been cut and baled, a tractor, hay wagon, hay elevator and an empty hay loft. For extra excitement you can throw in an impending thunder storm.

Our SHD started with a phone call from Gyps asking "how many kids do you have today". This is a difficult question because I never pay attention to how many kids are at my house on any given day at any given hour. There are always more than a few and less than you'd find at Kings Dominion. I had to think about this... okay two that are just on loan from the neighbor are leaving in about 30 minutes..."ummm, let me see, five kids and Todd so that's six"! Gyps explains the event for the afternoon, hay, heat, humidity and kids (that will be dead tired when we are done). "I'll be there in an hour" I told her.

We pull up to the farm to see and empty hay wagon parked beside the road. "Oh darn" Todd said. "I guess they're done already". The Tribe make disappointed kid sounds in the back of the van. "Just keep going" I tell him. We crest the hill and round the corner to the horse barn and there is the OTHER hay wagon being unloaded and bales being run up the elevator, (a long, elevated belt that takes the bales from ground level up into the loft). The Tribe pile out and charge forward in mass towards the belts, chains and gears of the moving elevator.

After introductions and a little organization we went to work. We had workers in the loft to catching bales and handing them to others that could throw the bale to the top of the pile and stack it. Another team worked out in the hot sun carrying bales to the elevator and the last team went out into the field to pick up bales and throw them in the hay wagon as it rolled past.

It was an AWSOME day! Everyone worked at top speed due to the rumbling of thunder in the distance. All afternoon we stacked, carried and threw bales like people possessed. Lungs burning with hay dust, eyes stinging with sweat and arms aching, we shoved the last bale into the loft and scooped the last of the loose fallen hay under cover just as the rain began to fall.

As the rain pored down The Tribe loaded into the van. They were hot, smelly, dog tired, smelly, itchy and did I mention smelly, oh and they were beaming with pride. They made new friends and got to hang with the Gypsinator. We got to work together as a family. Even Todd had a good time and I was in heaven. Hay, horses, my favorite twin sister and my totally hot (literally and figuratively) farm boy / husband. Yes, life is good!

Hay has been used for thousands of years as a binding agent for bricks. Mix hay or straw with some mud, bake it in the hot hot sun and it can last through the ages. I see now that hay and hot sun can bind families and friends as well.