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<\/a><\/p>\nBut I’m the one who scored.\u00a0 After an afternoon spent working on the fence and raking leaves, I wanted to get off the farm for a bit. \u00a0 Since the places I could go in my ripped and stained barn clothes were limited, I settled on a quick trip to the dump (cheaper than a trip to Lowe’s Home Improvement or the feed mill, which are the only other appropriate places for ripped and stained barn clothes).\u00a0 Excuse me, the solid waste convenience center<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Which is conveniently open only 3 days each week.\u00a0 Usually I choose the weekday option in order to avoid the weekend rush and, by default, my neighbors seeing me in my ripped and stained barn clothes.\u00a0 But I was feeling bold and looking for excitement so off I went.\u00a0 Yeah, I know, you wish your life was as interesting as mine.<\/p>\n Anyhoo, the dump was as full as expected.\u00a0 So full that the guy who’s supposed to make sure you’re not throwing away recyclables in the trash was more of a valet parking attendant.\u00a0 So full that I had to stop and wait on the main road for a few minutes until some people exited before I could come in.\u00a0 Let me tell you, there are few things more exciting than being stopped in the middle of a country road, around a curve, waiting to be struck from behind by a logging truck going 65 MPH.\u00a0 And you thought trips to the dump were booooring.<\/p>\n Since there were no neighbors in sight to chat with, I dumped my trash, tossed my recyclables, perused the free junk pile, patted the heads of the dogs hanging out car windows (who also think a trip to the dump is a nice way to break up a slow Saturday), and headed back to the my van.\u00a0 Which is when it happened.<\/p>\n A man dressed in a plaid barn coat, a John Deere cap, and work boots pulled up in a big shiny truck.\u00a0 He unloaded his trash, and while I was leaning on my door waiting my turn to exit, I saw him pull 3 bales of straw out of his truck bed.\u00a0 Which he put right next to the dumpster.\u00a0 I figured he needed to reach some more trash in the truck bed.\u00a0 But he didn’t unload anything else.\u00a0 He just started heading for the cab and getting out his keys.<\/p>\n “Um, excuse me,” I said, pointing to the straw\u00a0 “Are you throwing that away?”<\/p>\n He smiled.<\/p>\n “I just knew someone at the dump could use that.”<\/p>\n What????\u00a0 I was shell shocked.\u00a0 I looked at him closer.\u00a0 Now that I was paying attention I saw that his boots did not have any scuff marks.\u00a0 His truck did not have any scratches.\u00a0 I was beginning to doubt that his hat had any sweat stains.<\/p>\n “You don’t want it?” I attempted to confirm.<\/p>\n “Nope.\u00a0 My wife used it to decorate the yard for fall.\u00a0 I just knew someone could use it on their farm.\u00a0 You know, to feed their horses or somethin’.”<\/p>\n Awww.\u00a0 How cute.\u00a0 I remember when I didn’t know the difference between hay and straw.\u00a0 Back when I had never pulled out a goat placenta manually.\u00a0 Or emptied a chicken’s impacted crop.\u00a0 Or picked my sheep’s testicles up off the barn floor a few months after he was banded.<\/p>\n Oh, to have one’s innocence back.<\/p>\n “You’ve got horses?” he asked me, seeing the greedy way I was eyeballing those bales.<\/p>\n I smiled.\u00a0 I knew what he was thinking.\u00a0 I remember when I thought this was what a farm looked like:<\/p>\n Instead of this:<\/p>\n “If you don’t want them, I can definitely use them, ” I replied.\u00a0 He nodded and I threw open the van door.\u00a0 Which is when he looked worried.<\/p>\n “Um, you’re just gonna put them in there?”<\/p>\n “Yep.”<\/p>\n “You wanna go home and get a tarp first?\u00a0 Or a blanket or somethin’?”<\/p>\n “Nope,” I said, giving the stink eye to the old man who had just climbed out of a beat up truck, wearing a faded barn coat, and sweat-stained seed company cap. \u00a0 He was eyeballing the straw bales, too, and slowly creeping closer.<\/p>\n “It’s OK,” I reassured the guy.\u00a0 “The blanket doesn’t really help.\u00a0 Gotta sweep it out regardless.\u00a0 Plus, the bits of straw keep the old french fries and the juice box wrappers from getting lonely.”<\/p>\n At that comment, he leaned forward, peered into the backseat of my van, paled considerably, and quickly hopped in his shiny truck and drove away.\u00a0 Guess he concurred that there was nothing 3 bales of straw could do to damage my vehicle’s interior.<\/p>\n Turns out the bales fit perfectly.\u00a0 Kind of.<\/p>\n And although there were many uses to choose from (mulch the brassicas?\u00a0 planting beds in the greenhouse?\u00a0 add to the compost pile? seats in the kidding barn for the upcoming season?), I settled on fresh bedding for the bucks in their new barn.<\/p>\n And I still have 1 bale left.<\/p>\n It may not be second row seats for a 99 yard touchdown….<\/p>\n ….but it’s still a score for the home team.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n