Making hay in 1913

[altivo]

It's really cold outside and getting colder. I'm huddled by the stove with two cats and a dog and trying to distract myself. Here's a picture postcard that our friend Amy gave us. It was originally postmarked in August of 1913, just a couple of weeks after my father was born. It shows the biggest haystack we've ever seen.

Judging by the size of the horses and humans, I estimate the height of that pile at 40 or 50 feet, equivalent to a four story building. It's all loose hay, too, not bales. Only the weight of the hay and the clever way the pile is constructed keeps it in place.

Tonight and tomorrow could well be the coldest we'll see this season. Wind chills are going down as low as -28F, no time to be caught outdoors without protection. All the animals will be kept in tomorrow unless, like the ducks and the two boys, they can have free access to a sheltered interior space.

Comments

[schnee]

Wow, that's the biggest pile of hay I've ever seen, too (not that that is saying a lot; I haven't seen many).

And -28°F? That's firmly in "fuck it's cold, fuck it's cold, fuck it's cold" territory, too; at the same time, as long as I had the right clothes etc., I'd still like to have a real winter, too. *s*

[altivo]

Well, the -28F is the expected wind chill. It's just dawn now and the real temperature is -8F with no wind to speak of. That's tolerable for short periods of time. I live here and don't have any clothing to make -28F wind chill seem bearable. The good news is that it's just for today, with warming expected tonight.