Hay in October

October on the pony farm. Rain. Hail. And hay. Those are three items that don’t go well together. Hay has been a challenge this year because hay is a scarce commodity. In previous years, we would get a call from our hay dealer, asking us how much hay we wanted for the year. “You need 2 ton? 3 tons? I’ve got it! Ready to deliver.”

This year we are calling our hay dealer, asking anxiously, “Second cutting orchard grass? Is it in yet?”

“Not yet,” the patient voice answers, “But we are working down the list, you’ll get it. Not sure when, but you’ll get it.”

Good to hear, but we’re running short now. So we call all the feed stores and hay dealers, trying to track down some orchard grass or timothy or teff. Not looking good, then Bingo! A friend tells us that Wilco in Bremerton has teff hay. Quick, we order the hay, clean out the truck, drive to Bremerton, load up 10 bales, drive home, keeping an eye on the dark sky. Trying to remember when the rain was supposed to start. ‘Huh, look at that dark cloud, the cloud over home. 4:00, didn’t the weather report predict rain at 4? What time is it? 3:45? Oops. Is there room for the truck in a carport? Do we have a tarp? Are those rain drops on the windshield?’

We made it – just made it. Got the truck backed into the carport 5 minutes before the rain and the hail hit. We got a half inch of rain in a half hour. We watched the deluge from the porch, sipping a cup of tea, feeling grateful for empty carports and dry bales of hay.