The Hay Field in Front

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I've written about the land across the street.  It's not ours.  It is well outside of our price range.  It's currently zoned agricultural, and we pray it stays that way.  Each morning, I kid you not, I pray that we stay in "the country."  I pray that this land remains undeveloped.  We pray for our neighborhood's safety and protection.  I pray for each of our neighbors, calling each of their names to the Lord.  It is a blessing to know your neighbors, to look out for one another.

If you enlarge the photo below, you can see a brand-spanking new subdivision has gone up across the hay field.  88 homes on 18 acres.  The houses sprang up overnight.  In the past, the view you see at night was almost pitch black.  Now, you see rows and rows of street lights.  Progress, one might say.  We had a scare a while back.  They began plowing and leveling the field in front.  We went to the police jury meeting to see what was going on.  Our police jury member assured us that the plowing and leveling was just for a hay field, not development.

The "hay" didn't look too healthy during the drought-stricken month of June, but when the rains came, the grass (weeds) grew with vigor and enthusiasm.  Yesterday afternoon, I had come in from feeding the chickens and was picking a mess of blackeyed peas and ozark razorback peas in a bucket.  I heard a commotion in front.

Well, I declare (like my grandmother used to say).  They were cutting the hay.  The cutter cuts the grass short and lays it down.  It dries in the summer sun.

Then the fluffer comes by and fluffs it up to allow it to fully dry.

It a jiffy, the hay was all cut and fluffed.  I'm such a nutball.  Look at the photo below.  There's something that bothers me about it.  I guess my OCD is kicking in.  The cutter missed a little strip of grass between the field and the road.  That is going to bother me until I take the sling blade out there and chop it down until it's flat and even with the rest of the field.  Crazy?  You bet!

On a September afternoon, I looked out at the hay field.  The blue skies overhead, the reduction of humidity in the air and the fragrance of freshly cut hay wafting over across the road gave assurance that I could be grateful that, at least this year, a pastoral, relaxing view was able to be enjoyed on a peaceful afternoon.

There's an additional benefit or two to this hayfield being cut.  If not cut, this field grows lush with goldenrod.  Beautiful to look at and our honey bees love it, but our allergies don't.  Also, if not cut, the tall grass becomes a perfect habitat for varmints of many types: coyotes, skunks, possums, snakes and rats.  It's best when those rascals stay far away from Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.