Progress is being made on a segment of Interstate 69, also known as the NAFTA Superhighway, through part of Northwest Tennessee. When completed, it is expected to foster commerce with Canada and Mexico and help connect the area to other interstates. These photos show machinery, which is being used in road construction, parked between a corn field and a soybean field as the sun goes down at the end of the day.
“If you do not like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” ~Dolly Parton
Here are a variety of wildflowers which pepper the fields and country roads in our area during the spring and summer months. Wildflowers not only brighten the landscape, but also provide habitat for birds and insects and food for many animals.
“Flowers are the music of the ground
From earth’s lips spoken without sound.”
~Edwin Curran
Fall soybean harvest is in full swing, as evidenced by the dust clouds that can be seen throughout West Tennessee. Farm families call it “money”. Others might call it “the reason it does no good to wash your car in the autumn” and “the reason the throat feels tight and allergies have kicked up”. Once the soybeans dry out, a combine comes along, cutting and pushing the plants into the combine and collecting the seeds. It then discards the chaff out the back. The whole process results in a boat-load of dust and debris being kicked up into the air where it can be seen for miles around. And, as Isaac Newton said, “What goes up must come down”. Fortunately, “This, too, shall pass”. Soon, harvest time will be over, the dust will settle, and once again life in the country will return to normal.
“Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture.” ~Mario Burata
“Not a moment of life is wasted on a farm. Others may have been more places but haven’t out lived me.” ~Jim Fisher
A demonstration at a local Fall Folklore Jamboree showing traditional farming skills during the 19th and early 20th centuries using mules and horses.
Mules plowing a field.
Horses pulling a log.
“Some people dream of success … while others wake up and work hard at it.” ~Unknown
No flower means spring to me more than the daffodil. I look forward to the time of year when the wild daffodils spring up in the fields and along the roadside. Oftentimes, they mark the spot where a house once stood but is now long gone. Over the years, the bulbs reproduce and leave bright yellow clusters for all to enjoy.
… When all at once I saw a crowd
A host of golden daffodils
Beside the lake beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze …”
― William Wordsworth
“It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.” ~Henry Ward Beecher
“All I pay my psychiatrist is the cost of feed and hay, and he’ll listen to me any day.” ~Author Unknown
“The longer I live the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and wonder of the world … I have loved the feel of the grass under my feet … and the face of the fields has often comforted me more than the faces of men …” ~John Burroughs
walking on a country road 