Sometimes we amaze ourselves. I talked about the value of “just showing up” and recently I rediscovered some photos I took of two brothers who brought in their hay with a team of horses. Their names were Ken and Palm Ainsley and they had a small ranch outside of Granby in Grand County, Colorado. One day when they were haying, I just showed up. And I walked away with some incredible gifts – the knowledge of how to cut hay with a team using my own two hands on the reins, and some truly wonderful photos that remind me of golden days and of a way of life that is slipping away.

The Ainsley’s were not about to let me take from them without giving to me. “You’re not leaving until you can cut at least two straight lengths of the hayfield,” said Palm. And then they taught me how. That’s me in the photo, having the time of my life. I did straight cuts, straight from the start.

The Ainsley’s liked to pile their hay in big stacks and their ranch was always spotless. Palm wore white lips when haying, smeared with flour. It was something he’d done as a youth by grabbing a handful from the family bin while heading for the hayfield. Once he found his lips unchapped after a day in the rough, his ruddy face was brightened with white clown lips while bringing in hay ever since.

Ainsleys’ ranch was opposite the C Lazy U guest ranch where I spent a lot of time growing up. They’d come over for square dance night and always chose my good-looking mom from amongst the guest women. Mom has a great smile and looks like Katherine Hepburn so it’s no wonder. They’d ask “How’s the girl?”, she’d tell me. “The Girl” was me. I never guessed that the Ainsleys would be part of my life for so many years or that I would ever be a peripheral part of theirs, but I love the photos of them haying with their team and their hay rakes. And I especially love a photo of me cutting a row with their team taken on one day when I just “showed up”.