The first stop of the day: Buffaloland Provincial Park. This park was made to preserve the last remaining herd of the PEI Brown Buffalo. =)
PS16 - Hay Trip
(All photos by William Matheson)
A documentation of one long day of unloading hay. (Raking or loading hay, which I did on other days, is more field-based and isn't as safe or interesting concerning the camera.)
The first stop of the day: Buffaloland Provincial Park. This park was
made to preserve the last remaining herd of the PEI Brown Buffalo. =)
Springwater Farms does not employ wagons for such long-distance hauling.
(Buffaloland is in South Kings, Albion Cross is in the northeastern part
of Central Kings.)
I hope that's not written in blood, but I suspect it is. Buffaloland
is a seculded place, apt for a murderous rampage.
From left to right: Torri, Mark (seated), George Matheson (standing),
our trucker friend, Stanley.
We had problems with the conveyror, which is part of the reason why
I had time to take so many pictures.
And here it is: the last herd of PEI Brown Buffalo.
Here the lead bull has his head turned right, part of an arcane ritual
whose purpose is yet unknown to scientists.
Hah! They think it's feeding time! But their next provided meal is
many months away, when the grass is covered in snow.
Some youth, not yet experienced enough to know the difference between
grain and bare boards.
It took a really long time to get the trailer down to this.
Once in a while some animals get to go on a magical trip through the
hay bailer, which impresses them so much that they attach themselves to
a bale and commit suicide as they exit into mundane real life. Of course
Springwater Farms Quality Control detects and isolates such bales.
The previous item was a baled snake; this is is an example of baled
skunk, though there's not much left of it, and you'll forgive me for not
pawing into the bale for its guts just for the sake of a photograph. They
don't smell like Channel No. 5.
There we go! That'll hold! Who needs "The New Steel?!"
The sunny city of Montague. We didn't have much of a load, so we were
able to go down Wood Island Road Hill (pictured) instead of taking the
truck route.
The bridge over Montague River, splitting the town into two halves.
A quick stop for coffee. I'd like to see someone try this in a Bedford
drive-thru. Notice how there are no curbs or weird curves.
Stop number two: Beaver Valley Golf Course. Note that the hay is not
for the use of the course, but rather the course owner's horses. Also note
that when I agreed to come along, I heard "morning" and "Buffaloland,"
and this stop came as a suprise. =) But this stop was much more fun than
Buffaloland, and having more hands we unloaded the wagons at lightning
speed.
Despite my cynicism, the escalators are still on the truck. Three cheers
for farmer ingenuity!
I wonder if the owner would have let me play a round, had I asked him.
I wasn't exactly up to the dress code at the time, though. (I was dressed
rather like Dad was.)
And, in the stall, it's Valiant Action! "Valiant Action" looks
at his requisite pretentious name on a sign outside his door! "Valiant
Action" noses around in his own poop!
Left: Chad Acorn, school chum from a past Age.
Stanley, with our trailer brake. =)
Before long, we stuffed the loft.
Not documented on this page is the third unloading (!!) in Albion Cross. But it was pretty laid back compared to the others, and hay moving isn't particularly hard work - it's just hard on the hands.