They's still out cuttin hay.

We had lived in New Harmony a whopping two weeks.

Every church in the booming metropolis of Arab, AL was still virtual due to “the COVID”.

Homesickness and lack of community was getting to me and I needed some sort of human interaction that didn’t involve my 20 month old or loving husband. WHERE WERE THE PEOPLE?

I managed to spend some time with Miss Maxene (current BFF in the community) and she told me the New Harmony Baptist church had Wednesday night bible studies.

One for the ladies and one for the men.

Everyone meets at 6 pm. Ladies in the Sunday school room. Men in the auditorium.

Perfect.

Seemed simple enough. I told cody to head home by 5:30 that night to get ready and go to church. I was determined to have some sort of in person church meeting.

We packed up toys because country churches of 50 members or less don’t exactly have a nursery and childcare provided. I was ready to brave the bible study with toddler in tow.

We pulled into the parking lot, unpacked the car and made our way towards the building noticing that only women were gathered around the doors to the church.

I stopped and turned to cody who I could tell was getting anxious that we came at the wrong time.

I yelled out to the ladies standing there, “Hey, are the men meeting tonight too?”

One of the ladies leans around and hollers back, “Well huuun, the mens still out cuttin hay.” She said this sentence in a very matter of fact tone.

I could feel Cody’s face get hot.

Even though Cody’s job on our family farm doesn’t involve cutting hay.

Even though there are 7 men total at this church, 2 of them actually work jobs that cut hay and only 1 of those 2 comes on Wednesday night.

Cody was embarrassed. That tuck ya tail in and turn around feeling was all over him. He picked up Emmy Lou and carted her back to the car to let me go to bible study.

Now let me make something clear. We laugh at this story.

Mainly because we had a feeling like “Where on earth have we landed?” When we heard, “They’s still cuttin hay.”

I also smile in way that makes me nostalgic for a time in which I never lived.

Sweetly enough, this church has operated the same since it started.

Starting Sunday church at 11 AM so farmers can get their chores done even if the community of farmers is dwindling into retired farmers with less responsibility.

Wednesday night church time is all about the sun for the men. Men meet at 7 in the summers and 6 in the winters. Giving them all the sunlight work hours in and enough time to clean up before church.

That time and generation are gently passing.

And us city slickers had the incredible opportunity to catch a moment of generation culture I fear we will never get back.

The world has evolved. Farming is still hard work but less laborious than years before.

Most people have land and a job in the city.

People buy their canned food at the store and try an herb garden on their porch. They might even take a picture of it for the instagram account and do a tutorial of “how to grow herbs on your porch” for their followers.

The simple way of life is passing and nobody knows that men meet later than women because of hay.

I envy the people before me. The way their connection was a means of survival through hard farming seasons and church singings were their best social events.

There was nothing glamorous but the understanding of work and community, church and fellowship, and just plain caring for your neighbor was discovered before they knew how to walk.

A way of life where they didn’t see what everyone else had and had no reason to think that their life lacked anything.

They would see needs and fill them.

And most of the time, nobody ever knew unless they were told on.

Somedays, when I feel the inadequacies of life, I stare at a screen too long and feel like my life isn’t going anywhere, or my kid’s birthday isn’t as extravagant as the other mama’s balloon arch I saw on Instagram ….

When we see 700 commercials telling us to buy or have the bigger and better.

When we for some odd reason think people need to know our every move and we need to gain their approval for every idea we have or party we throw…

I wish we were just all still out cuttin hay.