Yesterday things broke. And my luck began to teeter. But an urchin wind brought my luck back.
First it was the dishwasher – broke.
Then Tima’s gate – broke.
Then I went to rake the hay – Big red Rake – broke.
Then I began to hand rake and my fork broke! – BROKE!
Then we jumped into the triple T’s car to collect the other forks at the other barn. BRAKES BROKE!
Slightly panicked with four acres of hay stranded on the wet ground and a pig running about my feet, I called around and found a gorgeous old rake attached to a wonderful antique tractor that our friends were happy for us to use. So John went over there and drove the deeply ancient tractor back.
Once he returned, it became quickly apparent, that I was not going to be able to drive this behomouth of a tracter without practise and so, time being of the essence, I gave him a lesson on raking. (I usually rake the hay). I told him exactly what the hay man had said. The fact that the instructions was practically monosyllabic helped. It was his first time but he did ok and stopped to get his second set of instructions for the next field when we saw a huge whirlwind, a fairy circle, descend into the hay field.
Do you remember that fair ride that is a big cylinder, and you are strapped to the inside of it. Then they carnies push a button and it spins really fast and the floor drops away and you are held to the walls by a centrifugal force – I need to look that up but I think I am right. It was called the gravity something. Everyone screams in terror. (For the record I never went for a ride on one because when I was in the line a boy was coming off the ride …
and he had vomit all over his face and clothes. I don’t think I need to explain how this happened. My sister and I looked at each other in horror and decided to go to the Haunted House instead. )
Anyway back to the hay field, this whirlwind, on a warm cloudfree day with no hot wind blowing suddenly descended straight down into the newly raked hayfield. It was huge. As big as the lounge. It began to rev up like a dancer warming up into a pirouette and then she was spinning so fast that it lifted row after row of hay into its force field, twirling them about in the air, knitting them into its walls, creating a spinning cylinder of hay right before our eyes. This wide funnel grew higher into the air, the revolving space defined by the flying hay. It zigzagged across the field picking a bit of hay here and a bit there. It sucked whole lines of hay up, a whirlwind snorting hay cut heroin with a hundred dollar bill like in the movies. Throwing hay out like wild hair in all directions. Giggling and twirling, manic, like an enormous spin dryer in a tutu. We watched in a kind of delighted horror as it weaved to and fro across the field and in seconds the windrows were no longer rows. Just wind.
Then the tiny tornado roared straight for the tractor, fooling with us, whipping at our clothes and pulling them up and away from our bodies like cartoon characters in a gale. We both ducked, hands over our eyes, laughing at the urchin wind. Feeling its power and pull like a live thing. Then she bored of us and danced on. We rose from our crouches to see it whip out of the field and across the top of the green truck twirling its curtain of hay, then ducking its head and winking its eye in goodbye it swooped and dropped through the barn door. Sudden silence. Gone.
Later John fixed the rake, then fixed the dishwasher. My little barn fork was waiting while they took the rampage to Johns workshop. But by then I was in bed.
Today we bale.
I hope you all have a lovely day
Your friend on the farmy.
celi
PS WordPress informs me that I have been blogging now for three years. THREE YEARS. I want to say thank you. Many of you have been with me since the beginning. Johns Mum, my sons and daughter and Di were the first persons to sign up as members and still read daily and there are many of you who have also been visiting daily for years. Almost 1,500 a day actually. How long have you been part of The Fellowship?
We are very strong now. We have our calenders, your pig, soon our photo books, and T shirts and now a Book!
With 1039 posts there are 3,534 members of the Fellowship of the Farmy as of today. We are extraordinary. Very special.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am for you all. Farming is a lonely place sometimes. But not for me. I have you. I am only here because of you. If not for you – like that tree – I would fall in the forest without a sound. You are my voice. Thank you. Thank you.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “Urchin Wind”
Congratulations Celi! You are a trooper 😉
Reading your post I thought that at the end the wind packed the hay in perfect squares and placed them one on top of the others… 😉
Have a great day!
G
3 years – awesome, thanks for taking us along for the ride every day C – I think I have been riding along since pretty much the beginning so feel like I am part of the family. Here’s to you have a much better day today.
Love and hugs to you from a chilly SA.
🙂 Mandy xo
Robert and I both read and laughed and got teary at the image you brought to us Celi. That dancing wind picking up the golden hay. We saw that once here in Oxfordshire on a beautiful golden summer day, (and me without my camera), I can still see it if I close my eyes. I’ve been trying to think back to how long I’ve been here, but my butterfly brain doesn’t hold dates at all. I’m pretty sure it was somewhere during your first year because Misky introduced us. Wish I had more time to join in more, but I’m here practically every day. 🙂 Big hugs.
I wished I had had a camera too becaise all that swirling hay against the blue blue sky was magical, however maybe like many angels she will not appear when there is acamera at hand.. c
We call those Devil Twisters here. Your hay is scattered here and there….are you able to get it picked back up and in a windrow? Some friends of our lost a whole dried pinto bean field to a Devil Twister…they are bad news.
Concerned….
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
yup. most of it is back in soe kind of order, though I still need to tidy it a bit more before the hay man cometh – fancy losing a whole field, that sounds awful, we were lucky then!..c
We are your urchin wind, the unseen force that dances behind you as you do your day’s work, watching, pouncing, laughing, admiring, wishing. We have the force of goodwill behind us, the thousands of us, we wish you the best of everything, we mourn when you mourn, we delight when you do. Thank you for the Farmy, for welcoming us all, and giving us an abiding interest. Three great years, and many more of them.
What a wonderful sentiment kate, and I was thinking about you visiting nanette, how people are drawn together in the pages.. c
Wow – that whirlwind sounds amazing!
Happy Birthday TheKitchensGarden 😉
I hope your baling is uneventful! We are getting lashed with the outgoing Arthur right now, hard rain and wind. I hate to hear about other folks’ haying debacles, but it does seem to be a constant when you make hay: all that old equipment seems to go wrong on the same day! And, like BlueJellyBeans, I too was hoping that the wind would laugh and pop all that hay into some pretty, stacked bales, or at the very least, put them back into orderly windrows!
Yes it ldid eave me with quite a bit of raking to do, (with the garden rake..).. c
My daughter and I saw one of those urchin winds once. On a clear blue sky day. Heard leaves rattling and lo! Thar she blows! So we ran to get into it and it lifted our hair, our clothes and our spirits! Amazing thing to see. Congratulations on three years of blogging, I for one, would not miss a single post of yours!
What a way to dry all that hay YIKES.
Sorry you had such a day but so happy to hear broken things could be mended lol LIKE US
xo
So sorry the hay had to be dried in such a forceful way.
Glad all your broken things could be mended lol sort of like us.
Congrats on the blog I have had mine that long too 🙂 Glad I found you and your farm life always fun to read from start to finish!
For a while I was sure there was no hey left to bale. Phew!
I haven’t been part of the collective as long as others, but I dearly treasure your posts. And I am proud and grateful to know a farmer who is One with the land and her animals. You nourish is all, Celi.
Oh that ride, in the Uk it was called The Wall of Death, I think it was a thing of its era, mid sixties to early seventies, then it dissapeared, perhaps with the advent of safety regulations! It was exilerating and terrifying in equal doses. Congrats on your third birthday, I have been reading since you had the conversatin with the Swine Herd about getting Sheila. I remember it was the 1st of April becasue I had never heard of a Hereford pig before (I dont know that they have them outside of the US) and I remember thinking is this an April Fools Joke!
Hereford is in Shropshire, in England. They have pigs 🙂
That is a Fourth of July that you won’t likely forget for a long time. What a tale! ….of woe, of more woe, and of mother nature doing her wind dance in your windrows, then of Victory! I held my breath throughout…what else could possibly on one single day??? That old tractor is beautiful.
Three years, what a milestone. I am so glad I found you, my friend.
Here’s to a wonderfully uneventful hay baling day with some nice hay man eye candy thrown in for luck.
Happy Blogiversary!!
I have only been following for about a year but first thing in the morning when having my coffee on the couch with my 6 year old daughter before taking her to school and going to the office (blah) I read. You are like my coffee, can’t start the day without checking in to the farmy.
I also have a “butterfly brain” (what a wonderful term!) so I can’t say how long I’ve been part of the fellowship – about six months, I think. What I can say is that I am grateful to you for doing all that you do and sharing with us. ❤
Congrats on your 3rd anniversary :0 I was wondering if the neighbouring farms were going to appreciate the free hay donation from you. I joined the fellowship end May 2012 and have been reading everyday since! Soooo who did claim the prize for the 4 July tomato this year? Hope baling day goes smoothly. Laura
Oh NO! In all the kerfuffle – I forgot about it.. yes John won!! Laura, I AM the butterfly brain! Thank you.. c