Peaceful. No moon. Snowflakes falling. A tractor, hayrack, husband and wife.
Five new bales were dumped into five steel bale feeders. The cows were munching and I hooked up the hitch pin. Rather than riding in the nice cozy heated cab of the tractor with my hubby, I decided to jump onto the rickety old hayrack instead. I laid back and closed my eyes to smell the fresh night air. As we proceeded down the dirt path, I opened my eyes and gazed up into the vast starless sky. We had driven down hill and were proceeding along the road as my imagination soared. The lights from the tractor shown upwards into the trees. The shadows of the branches danced and startled me. I thought perhaps a predator or night owl was rustling within the branches. Nope, just my eyes playing tricks. As we proceeded, I continued to look up into the darkness. Shiny flecks of snow were making their way down to the ground. The lights from the tractor were the only ones in sight. The hayrack continued to squeak and squawk over every little bump on that old dirt path. The temperature was not bitter, yet seemingly pleasant for a December night. As I rode along, my mind ran through memories of hayrack rides years past. Years ago, riding on the hayrack was the "coolest thing ever!" Now, one takes things for granted. The simple things. The peaceful things.
That bumpy slow ride reminded me of slowing down and taking time to remember those precious times with a different driver who was probably looking down at me through the snowflakes in that starless night. It also reminded me to take the time to allow my kids to make the same memories of my youth. Different time, different driver, yet still so very important.
