At a western-themed party, the hay bale is a popular decoration you might find.  Yet, I won’t sit or even touch one with my bare hands anymore.  And it’s not because of allergies.  When the swather cuts the alfalfa (hay) it mows down everything, and I mean everything: the sunbathing snake, field mice, the unsuspecting cat out hunting those mice, and if the farmer is lucky, a couple of those pesky gophers.  All those little animals are chopped up and hidden within the freshly cut grass, which, of course, is run through the baler and compressed into that clean-looking bale of hay you see at the party.  Yet, inside, there might be a dehydrated hunk of fur or meat lurking.  Mmmm…doesn’t that make you want to have hay bales at your next get together?