Things aren't always as they appear.

My dog, Paris and I walk every day in the off-leash park by my house. In the winter there is a business that must have some sort of Nativity scene they place in their office area annually because they always have bails of hay tossed into the back area of their warehouse. There is an older man who sits on them like a park bench with his little dog on the sunny winter white days. Now that it is summer, I noticed they are still there and it quite good form as compared to past years. Previously, I notice they become weathered and tattered with soggy and rotting hay but this year they look very different. They seemed to hold their form quite well for a square bail with sharp edges and a tight geometric shape.

Normally, I don't let my dog go over to that area behind the businesses because I am still trying to train her to "heel" as we walk but on this one occasion I allowed her to wander off to sniff in the tall grass. She stood beside the 4 well manicured hay bails and I started to walk over to where she was to get a closer look.

As I got closer I noticed one of them has some shadows on it that made me want to investigate what was in these bails. Was is metal wire instead of twine to keep them together? But then Paris went to the last bail in the row and I could hear her lapping up water. A puddle had formed in the centre of one of the bails. And upon closer inspection it wasn't a bail at all...
To my surprise it was 4 boxes that some crafty prop designer built to look like a bail of hay when really it was 4 boxes with hay pieces glued all over the sides to make it look like a real bail. Over the rainy spring conditions a few of the boxes had a concave top that allowed water to pool in it which worked as a little drink for my thirsty dog.

From a distance I couldn't tell but as I got closer I could see the shadows weren't wire it was printing on the boxes that was exposed for all to see. It all made sense now.

They covered only 4 of the 6 sides to make it look like a bail of hay - and they had me fooled for the past few months! I just assumed it was some co-worker's efforts to WOW their boss with an impressive Christmas backdrop for their shop and I was right but rather than driving out to see Uncle Randy on the farm for a few bails of hay they opted to make their own. Well done! I was impressed!Ha ha on me... So who is going to clean them up now... as they sit rotting in the park. Nasty.