An old hay bale. Left over from last winter—we bought hay to feed the sheep, but the early spring weather brought early grass and that meant the sheep didn’t need all the hay.
So this one stray bale just sat there, ignored. It got left out in the rain and weather all summer and fall.
Now in December it’s still just sitting there. No good for sheep fodder. The hay is all dead and useless.
Except it isn’t dead, because life is starting over on top of the bale.
Some of the zillions of seeds baled up inside have germinated, and there you go. The seeds of grasses and “weeds” can stay viable for decades, even centuries, so a few months sitting inside a decomposing hay bale is nothing.
Life out of death.
A touch of new green. We need it now, in the darkest time of the year.
Unmowed 