Haymaking time

I’m fascinated by haymaking. Gathering the hay symbolizes many different things to me. “Making hay” is also a metaphor for many other things in life, including economic vitality and even success.

Years ago, someone that worked with me, who also happened to be a farmer on the side, was telling me about hay and weather—mainly that you needed three successive days of sunshine and dry weather to cure, or preserve the hay for storage. Cutting your hay and then, having it rained on for several days robs it of much of its nutrient value and limits its capacity to provide nutrients to a farmer’s animals. Continue reading

The way of the world in two photos

Sign at Lisbon United Methodist Church, in Lisbon Falls.

I’m not sure exactly what this message is supposed to mean. Well, I have a sense in the context of it being on the church sign of the local Methodist Church in Lisbon Falls that it means something like this; focus on living a life infused with good works and making the world a better place, rather than merely focusing on making a good living—i.e. pursuing wealth accumulation as an endgame. Continue reading