Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Little known Fact



Cliff Claven was my hero.  Remember Cliffy?  The Mailman on the '80's show Cheers?  Cliff was the fountain of useless trivia.  Each of Cliff's informational nuggets usually started with him saying in his thick Boston accent, "It's a little known fact..."  Usually followed by something completely bizarre.  I love trivia as much as Cliffy, so I thought I'd give you a whole bunch of little known facts about hay.

I did another little painting today, this one of hay rolls in a field I saw back in July.  It's at the top of the page.  It's not that I love hay, heck, I can't even digest it, but it makes for a neat painting.  A little while ago, I did a painting showing an old fashioned hay wagon being pulled by two white horses from the 1890's.  The farmer was in a vest and tie.  Can you imagine wearing a wool suit when you're out haying in the hot July sun?  Yeah, they used to do that back in the day.  They also used to give babies "Teething Droplets" that had morphine in it!  But I digress...

These days when we have instant weather reports on our cell phones, or in-between Storm Stories on the Weather Channel, we forget that once upon a time farmers had to forecast the weather themselves.  Having a stretch of clear, dry weather was important for haying.  The hay needs to dry completely before it's stored in the barn.  Decomposing plant matter makes heat, and enough wet hay can get hot enough to start a fire.  Many a barn went up in smoke because the hay wasn't quite dry, so great care was needed in haying.  So the farmer would look for weather clues in the skies. 






Here on the coast of Maine, the wind direction can tell you a lot.  If the wind comes from the Northwest, we have dry weather.  If it comes from Northeast, we're in for rain.  Southwest means probable thunderstorms, and Southeast is muggy.  So, farmers had weather vanes on the roof of their barns to let them know which way the wind was blowing.  Once they cut the hay, it was left in the field to dry for a day or two.  That process was called "making" hay.  It was always better to do that during sunny days.  So that's where we get the phrase, "Make hay while the sun shines."  Yeah, it's a little known fact.  Thanks Cliff!


10 comments:

Mary Anne Cary said...

Love these hay rolls, nice paintings!

martinealison said...

I like these paintings... I like because i like so much the moment in the year with some smells.
I'm sure your painting smells the same thing !!
Very nice light no... Sun and i like the sun...
Kisses

Susan Roux said...

Who ever says make hay while the sun shines? Never heard it...

I really like your second hay painting. Beautiful light going over the top!

Karla said...

Love this painting! And the trivia! Now I want to go paint a weather-vane

Patty Meglio said...

I love the color harmony in the first painting. The trivia is fun too.

Kevin Mizner said...

Thank you, Mary Anne!

Kevin Mizner said...

Martine-alison, I bet you're not the only one who thinks my paintings smell, but I'll take yours as a compliment! Yes, I love the smell of freshly mown hay too.

Kevin Mizner said...

Thanks Susan, I kinda like the sky in the second one better.

Kevin Mizner said...

Karla, have fun painting a weather vane, just don't fall off the roof!

Kevin Mizner said...

Thank you, Patty!