3 September

Nelson Green: “Are You Happy?”

by Jon Katz
Best hay in the county.

Nelson Green is nearly 80 and has been in the hay business a long time. A farmer with the reputation for the best hay in the county, Nelson offered to drive by with a few bales so I could taste it, squeeze it and feel it. He didn’t want anybody to be unhappy with his hay, he said, and if any of it was no good, he would come right over and replace it. I love doing business with people like this, they still work on a system of honor and trust, not regulations and paperwork.

Like all the hay farmers I have know, when it’s time to pay up, he pulls out a pencil and writes on the stub of his check book. He is a monster of a man, tall as a tree, with the largest hands I have ever seen. When we were done, and before I paid him, he turned to me and said “Jon, are you happy?” And the hay was wonderful, the best I have ever seen – dry and full, the bales tight and generous. Second cut.

“Good,” he said. “I want everybody to be happy.”

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