Yesterday my husband and I took our four-year-old granddaughter Avery Grace on an adventure -- her first visit to a cotton field. And what a magnificent cotton field it was! (you can click on the images to enlarge them, if you'd like)
We caught it at just the right time, before the huge cotton picking machines descend on the fields to harvest the cotton from the bolls.
The plants stood over five feet tall, if you can imagine, swaying in a gentle breeze, and were loaded with fat, fluffy, snow-white bolls of cotton, ready for picking.
... stopping every now and then to check out an especially fluffy cotton boll.
I loved capturing her with my camera as she discovered the simple pleasures of playing in a cotton field. It wasn't easy to tear myself away, but I knew if I was going to get some pictures of the cotton, I'd better do it before she tired of playing in it.
We broke off a boll of cotton for Avery to take to pre-school today to share with her teacher and friends. I didn't think the farmer would mind, especially if he could have seen the wonder and delight in that little face as she discovered yet another one of God's masterpieces.
9 comments:
Like looking out my front door in Mississippi---I love the process of it, from the primal scent of first turning, to the flying dust as the planters roll like growling beasts over the land, to the vista of the tiny "turtles" as the wee plants peek from under the flat lids of dirt, glimpsing the sun for the first time.
Then there's the greening, as the fields take on a tinge, then definite delineations of those long, symmetrical rows, growing higher and higher, until the blooms grow purple---I think of them as "hollyhocks with jobs" in their purpose and their definite usefulness.
And the little bishop's hat bolls, with the dainty fringes which grow, ripen, and then burst with their fluffy hatchlings. The long vistas of green change to brown, crisping stalks and thorny nests, guarding their burdens like Sleeping Beauty's hedge. The great beasts are unleashed once again, to blunder over the fields, trampling the scratchy stalks and sucking up the clouds of white into that immense cage, thence to the trailers and then the gins, which compress the vast poundage into huge bundles like convoys of gypsy wagons encamped in the fields.
And on to whenever and wherever---for the most comfortable clothing there is.
Can you tell I've been longing for this remembrance of the season? Dyed in the Cotton, that's me.
Janie... I cannot get over how much Avery Grace has grown! WOW! She's grown up overnight!!! Loved these shots of her.
And I enjoyed seeing these scenes. Your photography is amazing as usual. I have never seen a shot of a row of cotton taken like the one you got... normally you see orchards shot that way, so it was particularly neat to see that. I used to have a cotton boll wreath, but it got put away somewhere. And would you believe, I can't find it??? Me thinks it was accidentally tossed.
This was a neat post.
XO,
Sheila :-)
Hi Janie,
Avery Grace is growing up so fast and turning into such a pretty young lady!
Love the pictures of the cotton fields...you photographs are beautiful and I love reading your thoughts on the topics you choose to feature!
:) Diane
Avery Grace is adorable! I love cotton fields. They are beautiful! At one time I grew a small patch of cotton in my garden and stuffed a pillow with it. I wish I could do that again. It was such fun. I have forgotten - where could I get seeds for another patch? I would love to grow some next year with my sunflower garden I am going to plant in memory of my daughter Amber.
Please visit my blog I have nominated you for an award.
Hugs
Donna
Your granddaughter is beautiful and your pictures of the cotton are awesome! What a wonderful way to spend time with your grandchild!
Avery Grace is a lovely young lady, and your pictures are quite interesting.
"I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotter,
Look away! Look away!
Look away! Dixie Land!
I'm sure you know that old song! I took a ride through the country side yesterday, and passed many cotton fields, looking just like this one! They have a beauty all their own.
Grandaughter is precious!
Hey Janie, Loved seeing the pictures of Avery Grace! I couldn't believe how fast she is growing!! She's getting so pretty. What a great day it must have been for both of you! Great photos too! I just love seeing cotton in bloom!! What a miracle that is! I remember the very first time I EVER saw cotton! I didn't know what it was and there was a whole field of it in west Tennessee. I made Frank stop by the side of the road so I could get a few snapshots! None as good as your close-ups though! Love it!
Linda
My dad's parents used to live between the Yazoo River and a cotton field up near Redwood (they moved out after the river flooded one too many times and the government paid them to leave, basically). I have fond memories of playing in that cotton field and these pictures brought it back. Thank you!
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