Friday, May 7, 2010

Needle in a haystack

The idiom "a needle in a haystack"
a needle in a haystack
something extremely hard to find ---
It's pretty much a needle in a haystack because these fish are extremely hard to find.
Etymology: based on the idea that it is to almost impossible to find a thin sewing needle in a haystack (a very tall pile of dried grass)

I am constantly misplacing items, every day. I am not an organized person, and I have a lot of "stuff". My stuff is often missing, but eventually found, mostly when I have given up looking.

Last week, my son and my dad were undertaking the annual task of burning the dry vegetation off the asparagus patch. They used an old, old bale of straw to get the fire started.

Years ago, my folks operated a dairy farm and grew oats to feed the cows and used the straw for bedding. I was always happy to work with the straw bales, packing them in the barn, because straw bales are much lighter than hay bales. We would put hay in the mow for weeks, so when the short straw season arrived, it seemed so easy...It was one of those straw bales, left in the barn since the 1970's that was to start the fire on the asparagus patch.

As my son opened and started shaking out the old bale, my dad spied something red and shiny falling amongst the straw. It was a red crochet hook. Mine, I am sure. I do not remember losing it, But I do remember crocheting in the barn while waiting for the next loads of bales to arrive.. 40 years later..........hmmmmmm.

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