October Snow

I had errands and appointments in Jackson three days last week, and, while driving East on I-20 between Vicksburg and Jackson, had to pass by acres and acres of cotton fields that looked as if they had been dusted with a blanket of snow.  I could hear those fields calling my name and was frustrated by not having time to stop and capture them with my camera. 

I planned to go back Saturday morning, but was afraid the cotton pickers would get there before I did. Saturday morning dawned overcast, with a heavy fog, and I knew it was my lucky day —the cotton pickers wouldn't be there until the fog lifted and the cotton had a chance to dry out.

I, not so patiently, waited for the fog to lift and was rewarded with a brilliant October blue sky as a background for my photo shoot.  I love it when a plan comes together, don't you!

This field is the same one I featured in a post a couple of weeks ago [The Joys of a Cotton Patch], but it was mostly green then, with a few white tufts of cotton scattered amongst the rows ...

I know the cotton farmer's heart races a little faster every time he checks these beautiful fields ... and where I see beauty, I'm sure he sees dollar signs.

There's just something about a cotton field that inspires my southern pride and makes me glad that I grew up in the "land of cotton."

   

The cotton bolls were, literally, overflowing, and some looked as if they were the size of baseballs.

Here's that October blue sky I mentioned earlier ...

Isn't it glorious!

And speaking of glorious ... I've photographed dew on roses and pansies and other flowers, but I had never seen dew on cotton!

Is that not awesome!

There should be a country song called, "When the Dew is on the Cotton, I'll be Comin' Home to You."

This next picture is one of my favorites ... I love the contrast between the soft, pristine white cotton and the rustic texture of the leaves and boll.

I was in my glory as I wandered the rows of that cotton field.  What better way to spend a Saturday morning than in the midst of God's glory under an October blue sky ... and to be able to capture it and its memory forever in pictures was a special blessing.

In Awesome Wonder

O Lord, my God, When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made ... I find it truly amazing that this ... Can turn into this ...

In the Land of Cotton

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled through the Louisiana Delta on US Highway 65, between Vicksburg and Lake Village, Arkansas, and featured my journey in a series of three previous posts. If you have not read those posts and would like to, just click on the links below:

A Journey through the Louisiana Delta
I Made it to Providence!
Louisiana Delta Odds and Ends

The last stop on my trip was at the Louisiana State Cotton Museum at Lake Providence, Louisiana.

The Louisiana State Cotton Museum began as an idea by a group of volunteers in the 1960s, and was later brought to life by the East Carroll Historical Society. Since its opening in 1995, the museum is dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of cotton cultivation and its influence on life in Louisiana.

In addition to the replica gin, the 7-acre museum complex includes a 100-year-old planter's house original to the site, and is surrounded by a Sharecropper's Cabin relocated from Mound Plantation near Tallulah, Louisiana, a Commissary, which was a general store on a Delhi plantation, a Plantation Church, and an Exhibit Hall.

Although I didn't have time to tour the museum, I was able to capture a few pictures of the outbuildings, and felt as if I had traveled back in time.

Hood Home Plantation

Over 100 years old and original to the site, cotton planter families occupied the Hood Home Plantation since antebellum days.

Sharecropper's Cabin

Gin Office

Commissary

My favorite building was the little chapel.

Small churches like this one were built for families who worked on the plantations.

I have quite a collection of church bell photos, and I was pleased to add this old treasure to my collection.

There is a world of fascinating history behind the cotton clothes you wear — and if you are ever traveling near US Highway 65 in the Louisiana Delta, I hope you will take the time to stop and visit the Cotton Museum, and see and hear for yourself what it was like to live "in the Land of Cotton," where "old times [there] are not forgotten."