Flashback Friday

Going home always involves some inevitable nostalgia.  This trip was no exception.  I made a couple swings over to the farm my Uncle Ed used to have and where I was his hired man during high school and college.  As I have mentioned we used to travel to various local farms and bale their hay and shell their corn because Ed had the equipment.  I wondered how many still used square bales and posed that question to Jeff, my buddy who lives near BFE Wataga. He used to farm with his Dad and the family still has some land around, so Jeff would no.  His response, "Virtually none."  

I had been in G-Burg for some reason, and decided it might be a good time to have my 24th tenderloin at Gimpy's so took Route 150.  On the left to my surprise, in the distance,  was a tractor, a baler and a hay rack.  Well, what do ya know?   









I pulled over and decided this was big enough to get out of the truck, get the camera and film.  I had stumbled on "virtually".  




Well, I was already there, so decided to stay till they swung around and let them know, everything was OK, just an old guy reminiscing his youth.  Go on about your business.  In the heading its a small world, the guy driving the tractor gets out and I explain what I'm doing.  Nice guy, and he says I looked familiar.  I told him I worked at the Mary Davis Home for years and he said, "That's it!  Ive seen you in at the Blue Rose.  You worked for Randy Storm."  He told he was in painting in Rio and after my sandwich tried finding him but didn't find him.  Guess he saw me first.  

Anyway this same guy, really a nice guy, would run up to me in a few days when I was at the Railroad Days car show.  He has a couple old cars himself.  

Anyway, I filmed the baler a bit and what struck me most was the chaff that comes out the chute as the bale rises.  That dust is what gets all over you on those hot summer days baling hay.  You'd go home simply covered in that hay dirt.  I'm glad I recorded that because that brought the memories flooding back.  God, I hated it.  
But wish I could turn back time and do it again.