Tuesday, July 10, 2007

OK is NOT ok and Other Observations

One of the first things I noticed on our road trip last Tuesday {yeah, yeah, I know it was a week ago, don't give me grief} was a dead armadillo on the side of the road in S. OK. I know what y'all are thinkin'. "Holly...you're from TEXAS. Dead 'dillos on the roadside are practically a State Un-animated Animal." Yeah, right, I agree. But the difference between road-killed 'dillos in TX and this dead 'dillo in S.OK is that this poor Red River WetBack is that it hadn't been hit by some speedin' car. Oh, No, My Gentle Readers! This 'dillo had been SHOT!
I don't mean some kids out plinkin' with a .22, either. Some evil-minded Okie with a 12 gauge blew this little 'dillo to Smithereens! I swanee, I've never seen such cruelty! Why even the Armadillo Jackal [h/t Robert Earl] would be appalled at that!
And what's up with namin' every gol-darn bridge on the I-35 Toll Road in OK FOR somebody?
Stopped in Claremore, OK on the way home. We visited the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum. Lot o' guns and a few swords. Some beer steins. Actually, a person could spend a couple of days in there looking at all the rifles, shotguns, revolvers and semi-auto pistols. They also have execution memorabilia from famous criminals of OK. Dearly Beloved picked up a small gift for Tamara in the gift shop. She being so enamored of certain spinning handguns and all. And that's all I'm sayin' on that subject.

Now, I have a question for Farm Girl.... I'm used to seein' all those big round hay bales. That's nothing new. What is new, to me, anyway, is seein' 'em "shrink wrapped". What's up with THAT?
I understand that hay will mold and be useless if it gets wet...but how does it do any good atall to just wrap the outside and not the ends? DUH! Won't the ends get wet and moldy and then contaminate the bale? Or am I just too dense to understand? Thank you in advance for 'splainin' to this former country girl.

3 comments:

Strings said...

Heh... those round bales were made illegal up here in Cheeseland. Legiscritters felt that cattle couldn't get a square meal off 'em...

shooter said...

When I was in Sweden last summer, they had them wrapped up tighter than a nun in a convent. They have giant machines that wrap the whole bale into something that resembles a giant marshmallow. Looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man took a dump in a field.

FarmGirl said...

Actually, the way I understand it (We sane Coloradans haven't taken up this practice... yet) the plastic wrapping allows the grass hay to ferment something like silage. Apparently it holds in more of the nutrients and makes it a "richer" hay.

'Course, you could have also been seeing a double-wrapped "net" bale. A lot of balers nowadays use a plastic netting instead of twine. I guess its more secure, or something. I can tell you this though... its a right pain in the patoot to get off. Not to mention as secondhand useful as twine...