Making hay while the...
Living in Ireland - I quite often see flashes of a former world. It might be something as simple as an old man walking down the street with his cows... or a traditional fishing boat on the ocean... or even the look on someones face.... but the instant you see it you know that this truly is living history.... something that has not changed for generations. These brief windows always happen in a split second and when you are not expecting it...... They can never be planned and are never put on display for the tourists. Seeing them is just part of living here... something that you stumble upon... and when you do see them you instantly know that you have witnessed a treasure.
It happened again this week. I was out for a drive (not too far from where we live), and I noticed some hay stacks in a field. I parked at a pub down the road and hiked back to find them. After standing there taking a few pictures I decided to hike up some of the boreen (little side roads) to see some other hay stacks that were off in the distance (see the picture I got below).
Seeing hay stacks like this is becoming more and more rare these days. These are the real thing. The were not made by a machine, but rather have been dried and stacked by backbreaking labor... just as they have always been made. The farmers put a small plastic bag on top of them and then weigh it down attaching rocks with string on each corner of the bag. The result is a beautiful pile that is stable and won't blow away.
After walking down the boreen and back I decided that the lighting and sky were too nice to pass up. I had to keep walking and taking pictures. Boy... am I glad that I did! I walked up a large hill in hopes of getting some panoramic shots. Once I came to the crest of the hill I discovered that I was overlooking a field where a family was making hay. Seeing the several generations (at least three) working together just as they have for generations was a beautiful sight. It does not take a hopeless romantic like me to know that I was seeing something that may someday fade way. I really do love Ireland... and I love that even though it is a changing and modern country it has not lost its history... that it is alive in the fields...
.
It happened again this week. I was out for a drive (not too far from where we live), and I noticed some hay stacks in a field. I parked at a pub down the road and hiked back to find them. After standing there taking a few pictures I decided to hike up some of the boreen (little side roads) to see some other hay stacks that were off in the distance (see the picture I got below).
Seeing hay stacks like this is becoming more and more rare these days. These are the real thing. The were not made by a machine, but rather have been dried and stacked by backbreaking labor... just as they have always been made. The farmers put a small plastic bag on top of them and then weigh it down attaching rocks with string on each corner of the bag. The result is a beautiful pile that is stable and won't blow away.
After walking down the boreen and back I decided that the lighting and sky were too nice to pass up. I had to keep walking and taking pictures. Boy... am I glad that I did! I walked up a large hill in hopes of getting some panoramic shots. Once I came to the crest of the hill I discovered that I was overlooking a field where a family was making hay. Seeing the several generations (at least three) working together just as they have for generations was a beautiful sight. It does not take a hopeless romantic like me to know that I was seeing something that may someday fade way. I really do love Ireland... and I love that even though it is a changing and modern country it has not lost its history... that it is alive in the fields...
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Labels: history, pop culture, Things I love about Ireland, tradition
2 Comments:
very neat! beautiful pics.
jodie
I was so excited when I saw this post because I actually recognized the hay stacks! I loved driving by them and taking in the history of what I was seeing.
Thanks for the great pics
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