It's hot and breezy, perfect hay weather. Farmers all over this area are baling, trying to take advantage of a season which has been rainy punctuated by short, hot windows of opportunity. Julia made good on her promise to bring me more round bales. I wasn't sure when it would be and took my time getting home. I made stops to get gas, to pick up dog/cat food, to get my mail, etc. Sure enough when I finally got inside and calmed my dogs down I heard the phone ringing. I had forgotten my cell at home and there was a message on it. Both were Julia trying to get in touch with me to tell me her son, Matt, was on the way with a load of bales! What a thrill! She offered me two loads and I said YES - who wouldn't? I have room, God Bless My Giant Barn! Matt came and unloaded the bales. We chatted about his upcoming induction into the Marine Corps and off he went to pick up more bales in Edmeston, a half hour from here at least. I called Julia to thank her and - nothing goes this well in farming - bad news. She told me her brand new tractor had broken and would only go backwards! Julia put a call into Clinton Tractor to come out and fix it right away. Who knows how that will go? With a forecast of 90% chance of rain tomorrow, and my bales lying out exposed (Matt was also going to load them into the barn) the nail biting begins. There is a lot of nail biting in farming. If everything goes well, and Clinton Tractor fixes Julia's machine, and Matt comes back with the next load, then gets the tractor to put it in the barn, I will have half again as much hay as I had last year. I almost made it through the long, cold spring. Hustling for local hay in April is not fun. Matt Redmond and Luke are touring Manhattan right now and can't help roll the bales in the barn. Let's see what the night brings. In the meantime I'm going to fork loose hay out of the way of the new bales, and dream about the lambs I'll have in the spring, and all the beautiful wool I'll have to play with.
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