Longing to Embrace

In the humid heat of a Southern summer that wilts most every living creature, the cotton in the farmer's fields thrives...and begins to stretch. Reaching across wet dirt that just a few weeks ago appeared as a great chasm separating each row from the next. The plants seem to grasp with desire at the neighboring greenery. Like young lovers, longing to embrace across the dusty middles and join in the magical mystery of the birds and the bees. Holding hands in the light of day and dancing with abandon through the moonlit nights. Becoming one....together.

Rows of cotton, that once seemed as separate as the night is from the day, begin to intermingle and intertwine...Changing from a thousand rows to one single field....

Middles and Ditches

Wrestling the land sometimes requires a tag team effort, so the farmer and the farmergirl take turns driving the tractor and working the land. Slowly, patiently, digging thousands of tiny trenches and larger ditches. Deeper middles for the floods of water that nourish the growing cotton plants. Ditches for the overflow. Directing the flow of the water. Taming the wellwater....and the rainwater.

The farmer cuts the surface of the land with miniature creeks and rivers that lead the water right back to the vast underground supply....completing the circle of life.

Peaches

Between the farmer's home and the cotton field stands a small border of young trees filled with a different kind of fruit. Fresh peaches. Like cotton at harvest, they turn soft and fuzzy when they're ready to be gathered by the farmer girl for a new adventure in an age-old process. Each perfect peach is plunged beneath the rolling bubbles of boiling water and then into the icy depths of a cold bath before being peeled, cored, cut and, finally, simmered. After a little time, a hint of spice, and a splash of sweetness, small jars of freshly canned peach jam dot the farm family's kitchen counter.

Fresh peaches refresh the farm family in the heat of the summer, but peach jam is sure to warm their hearts in the coldest days of winter.

A Natural Beauty

Hidden in the farmer's garden beneath a canopy of heart-shaped leaves lies a prickly green fruit. Ordinary, even plain, the Cucumber appears slightly out of place among the abundance of beautiful yellow blooms covering her meandering vine. She seemingly pales in comparison to the vivacious red tomatoes, shapely yellow squash, and slender garden beans. But after a long soak in a hot tub of spices, she becomes something extraordinary, even memorable. A Natural Beauty...the fresh Dill Pickle. Slightly spicy. Crispy crunchy. Perfectly pickled. The true prize of the farmer's garden.

Even the ordinary things in life can be transformed into extraordinary creations with a little time and attention.

First Bloom

Wide open. The farmer's eyes scour the fields searching for something he instinctively knows is there. Somewhere. Hidden among the bright green leaves and dark woody stems. Finally, he catches a glimpse of his prize. The first fruit of all his labor. The very first bloom. White as snow. The color of cotton. Countless tiny squares now dot the flourishing plants in the farmer's fields. Each houses its own precious flower waiting patiently to emerge and become the striking beauty that briefly paints the South's white gold.

Soon the green fields will be dotted with a trinity of colors....countless blooms in red, pink, and the purely perfect white.

Rain Dance

Summer has danced into the South on the winds of perfectly spaced Spring thunderstorms, but every wise farmer knows drier days are waiting in the wings hoping to steal the show. Though cotton thrives in the scorching temperatures of the Missouri Bootheel, it thirsts for the cool fresh water that once covered the region in swamps and still flows far beneath the surface of the fertile soil. The farmer seeks to pull the drink from below to the parched plants on the surface of the land by stretching an oversized water hose of polypipe from one end of the field to the other. Dark clouds begin to swirl in the sky above. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Lightening flashes a few miles to the East. Giant raindrops plop sporadically to the ground. A cool breeze blows away the heat of the day...And a magnificent rainbow appears overhead. The work is completed in the perfection of grace amid the dancing laughter of giddy young farmhands enjoying the cool wet fruit of their labor.

The spectacular show of nature is enough to make one wonder if, perhaps, God is amused by the farmer's attempt to create rain from the dust of the Earth.

Sparks Fly

Sometimes we all need to blow off a little steam....And maybe a few sparks...Let out a giddy scream amid an echoing chorus of firecrackers...Watch our worries float away on the wings of a paper lantern...Melt our cares in the heat of a sparkling wand of flames. The farm family fills up on the fun of rising flames, and soaks up the beauty of a vivid display of colors set against the backdrop of a fading summer sun.

Sparks fly in July between little country boys and their first true love...colored flames dancing at dusk.