Haystacks often do not get the credit they deserve.
Habitual city dwellers like me rarely get to see or read about them except in rustic themed photoshoots. And it is a shame.
A very long time ago I was lucky enough to spend my summers in authentic rural surroundings. As rustic as can be. In those times, farmers still relied on oxen to plough their lands. Every dwelling had a pair of oxen, often tied up in their large front porches. Hay being a staple in the diets of these cattle, large stacks of hay were everywhere.
And they were magnificent. Often about 7-8 feet tall, to my small kiddish frame, they appeared huge - and ready to be conquered! Climbing on these stacks was one of my favorite activities. The now me cant imagine, but back then we found it very easy to climb them. But boy do they fight back!! The scrapes one gets from their blades are no joke. Everyday, our hands and legs used to be covered with tiny little cuts. By the next morning, we used to forget all about the vindictiveness of the hay and played the same game again :)
Which brings me back to what I was originally saying. Most urban dwellers have never had any close encounters with hay ever. And yet, everybody instinctively associates with bales as rustic aesthetic pieces. I guess there are some memories etched in the human DNA.
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