Big, black clouds had dumped their rain on me and most of the rest of Medina when I turned onto Willow Road right off of Hamel. I saw four hay wagons off in the distance, all lined up, waiting for someone to come, take photos. I thought, hey, there might be a story here, but went on my KIA-way.
About 100 yards later I backed up, flasher on for safety, stopped the car, grabbed the iPhone, and, on the hunt, trekked into the field.
You could feel the crunch under foot - freshly mown alfalfa hay. The ground was soft, like walking on a massive green mattress. And the smell: you knew mowers and balers were recently here.
I was surprised that there were no tail lights on these wagons. Just a triangle reflector which might do in a pinch. These babies are likely not pulled by the big diesel John Deere's after night fall.
I checked out wagon 81, saw the ID number, discovered the dealer, Boll Equipment, was domiciled in Howard Lake, MN. I don't know the town, don't think it's near Medina, wonder how far the wagons were pulled to get to the job.
The unloaded wagon was pretty clean, though a clump or two of the sweet grass remained caught up in the frame.
There were no bales of hay to be seen, anywhere. Must have been trucked off to the barn. And the big diesel Deere's were parked yards and yards away from the wagons. When I saw the familiar yellow and green branding of the Deere's, and caught the beginning of rust on the hard-working rim, I knew I was on to some grand adventure.
"Beauty" shot of four wagons, at their rest, plenty of work ahead of them later this summer. What I had seen was first hay harvest only.
