Monday, February 25, 2008

Summertime...in my bed

Everyone has a favorite smell. I love the scent of lilacs after a warm spring shower. I love the smell of big fat drops of mid-summer rain on sun baked dirt. The musky, warm smell of my horses on a chilly fall morning. A steaming mug of chocolate made with REAL dark chocolate and heavy cream. Vanilla on my skin.

But most of all, I love the smell of good hay. A loft full of hay is divine for all my senses and brings back so many memories of scrambling around in a hayloft or hay barn, building forts from the bales or finding a litter of kittens nestled in the wide space between stacks.

This is a load of most excellent hay. I buried my nose into the soft, green blades and breathed deeply, eyes closed. And I smelled summer. It smells hot but fresh and sweet, like riding through a field and smelling the blades and blooms as they are crushed beneath my horses hooves. I smell the golden warmth of a lazy summer afternoon and beneath the sweet fragrance there is the slightest scent of dry hayfield dust.

Here, have a closer look.

If I were a horse, I'd eat it. The blades are soft, the cure, perfect. Not too dry, not a bit moldy. I plucked a few heads of clover and clumps of alfalfa from a few bales, perfect. I wanted to crawl in between the bales and surround myself with summertime sunshine for a while. I stuck a piece in my mouth and chewed on the sweet blade of green timothy. Heaven on my tongue.

Yes, I'm ready for winter to be done.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I *sniffle* love the scent *sniff* of good hay too! *sniffle-sneeze* Your hay is beautiful and so is that truck of yours. I think that you composed an excellent country/western song! To the tune of 'Country Road'?

MP said...

Wonderful post!
I was right there with you..very well written.
We had country cousins in So Ill. When I was young they never knew where I ran off too.. I was in the loft in the bar w/ the hay..and the barn kittens..I'd stay there for HOURS.... wonderful memories.

Nell said...

Mmm, you made me smell it, all the way over here in cold, cold Berkshire county...

Lisa said...

I love the smell of hay too. When we drive back to Clinton County during certain times of the year, we roll the windows down (around Trenton) and take in that wonderful scent.

Linlee said...

I'm with you, I'm tired of this cold weather!