We have been learning some more family history and it really struck me that so much of what we do in the summer especially gardening, canning, gleaning, working is very similar to all of grandparents gone by. I'm still debating whether this is good or not. I mean machinery is available to make work easier and quicker but sometimes I really believe its good to work the body hard and get a taste of accomplishment from doing a really strenuous task.
Mark earned some hay for some tractor work which will be fed to his two heifer calves he is hoping to start a herd of his own with. This cutting was baled in small bales. The kids talk fondly of bucking hay from times past so I was excited to see another opportunity in the making. These bales were more dense and heavier and it was a bit hotter than past experiences. Greg's main comment throughout was "Thank goodness they are all a year older and can do more."
Even being older and stronger this was a big job. HArold and I discussed how strong you would be doing this for days and weeks on end. No wonder our home town was a dominating force in state football competition. This beats any workout regimine cuz there is no halfway the job goes till complete. our minds were blown contemplating throwing/bucking over a 1000 bales a day. They must have been animals. MAny of those men are still mountains even in their advanced age. Muscles built in youth do last... or maybe just the lesson of being able to conquer hard projects leads to a lifetime of physical strength?
Livy loved watching a new play/daydream spot being built. Everyone helped and was involved. Too bad I can't capture the bickering and fighting over who helped the most or was the strongest.... but it was definitely a part of the project. IT takes a while to just settle in and finish. Bad example by their mother, let the true feelings be known but complete the project nonetheless.
The boys were thankful to see the girls appear as fresh help. The girls were not so excited but helped anyway.
CLeaning the loose hay from the trailer. We got a lot of bucketfuls. This project kept the little ones helping and working for quite a while.
Some choose to do it easy and some choose to do it hard. You can guess which is which.
The crew boss not to be left out of any action. I silently wondered what his work future would be not having brothers to balance a load and older parents will we even attempt projects like this when he is Harold's age? Maybe Harold, John or Mark will be around some and will help him have similar experience. This day definitely made us feel our advancing age.
The end of load one! I love the smiles and the enthusiasm. There is nothing that beats the feeling of doing something hard and unique. The teamwork of needing each other and appreciating back-up is a pretty close second. I love this team of mine. I'm thankful for a willing husband and a strong healthy family who can do projects like this. I think they moved over 16,000 lbs of hay that day. EVeryone slept well and apart from some sore muscles the next day were off to the next adventure on Monday.
I admit to shaking my head when contemplating the other option of going and doing something fun like boating- we don't do those things much. But we do work together and as I'm learning from family history that is a trait that has been passed down generation after generation. That probably isn't such a bad thing either.
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