It's A Haywired Mess Out There
- Sarah Brenner
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
This morning over coffee, William and I were discussing a variety of farm frustrations. Calves can be born and not "take" to mom, rooster brothers can suddenly fight, sheds can collapse under snow load, wood stoves can start puking smoke into the house when the chimney is plugged, sewer pipes and water lines can freeze...the list of these at times sudden and chaotic farm problems goes on and on.
William handles all of these mishaps with calm composure. He expects them. He fixes them. That's what farmers do. They constantly fix things that break. Me? I can handle and triage small disasters that land in my wheelhouse of skills, but if the fix involves a Lull or some piece of large equipment, I get worried and wonky. I fear that I don't have the skills needed to fix the problem, but every time something major has happened, I've watched William skillfully put the pieces in place to make a proper repair.
"Clearly, I don't deal well when things go haywire," I said at some point during our morning convo.
"Hey! That's a farm expression from long ago. Haywired!" says Bill.
"Oooh! Tell me about haywire," I prompt. William is a great story teller so I settle in with my coffee to listen to him tell another farm story from days gone by. Below is a Sarah abbreviated version...
"Jim and Ed (uncles now passed) used to ride on the baler," he began. "It was a hot dirty job! They'd poke the haywire through the bale. The other guy would pull it out and twist it tight to bind the bale... Every time you'd cut the wire on a bale to feed the animals later, there'd be these lengths of wire they'd twist together and save to fix things. There'd be haywire all around the farm holding things together...fences, gates, shovel heads, pail handles... Those temporary fixes though, could become bigger messes the more haywire was used and the rustier it'd get. You'd end up with a haywired mess!"
As soon as Bill said the words haywired mess at the end of his farm story, I saw a flash of Donald Trump and his cult followers, his ICE Agents, protests against federally sponsored murders, crypto laundering, federal coffer siphoning, Epstein Files, young sex-trafficked girls, refugees, immigrants...my heart breaks at the number of HUMANS suffering in this “haywired” mess of ours. I was sick during his first presidency, but this time around...I know most of you feel the same pit in your stomachs that I have in mine.
Sadly, still an estimated 44% (down from 52% thankfully) of our fellow citizens are attempting to use big chaotic balls of haywire to "fix" society's problems. Not only do they think haywire is the way to go, but they're also very fond of the "Smoke and Mirrors" toolkit as well. Those of us who are awake and whose hearts are full of awareness and compassion can see that the haywired mess of "repairs" is rusty (and literally that color!) and beginning to crumble. It's time for a proper fix to be done by calm, compassionate and skilled people who know that to use haywire isn't going to lead to long-term stable repairs.
Okay. Enough of that. My next blog post might be about how muzzled I feel living out here in Western Wisconsin and how frustrated I am that I must always speak in code. I see the house of cards falling and freedom of speech one day returning to this great land of ours. But, until then, I will ponder our reality through the use of farmy idiomatic expressions.
It's quiet out here in the countryside. For friends from the Cities who may need to regulate your autonomic nervous systems, a drive along the River Road is always healing. The ducks at the farm make for good company, and one of my COMPASSION or KINDNESS COOKIES might be just what you need. Our FARM STORE is always open chock full of cookies, soups, sunflower oil, preserves from the fall harvest, bird seed, bales of straw and pallets of wood (a face cord) if you've got a fireplace or wood stove. William also has an upcycled CHICKEN COOP for sale if you're in the market for backyard eggs. Farm fun for everyone!
Stay well. Don't let fear win. Breathe deeply and remember we are all ONE.
Sending love from the farm,
Sarah