Hay

My friend, Bruce, keeps trying to give me the opportunity this week to work in his hay field. Guess it has to do with me saying, "I never have had the great experience of putting up hay."

I remember as a kid the hay technology that produced the square bails that were stacked neatly in the barn. Hay production (from what I hear) is a hot and tiring job.

I can also remember when hay technology advanced to the round bails. It seems that this method is less labor intensive and storage can be in the field.

I really do not think that the plastic wrapping that protects the round bails adds to nature's ambience.

I miss the old method of producing haystacks. The last time I saw a field of original haystacks was on Route 47 as we went to Parkersburg from Glenville, and that was many years ago. There is a skill in producing stacks of hay. Check out the Hur Herald for specific details.

http://www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=articles_hurherald&id=10760

The painter, Claude Monet, also appreciated haystacks. He produced a series of haystack paintings. The primary subjects of all of the paintings in the series are stacks of hay that have been stacked in the field after the harvest season. He painted a twenty-five canvas series that was begun in the autumn of 1890 and continued through the following spring - using that year's harvest.

There is a nostaglia about the haystack that a square or round bail can not even come close to producing. The haystack was a true Appalachian memories of mine.

The newest hay technology, the round bails, try to approach the art of Monet, but it is a feeble attempt. Here for your entertainment is a round bail gallery.