June 16, 2008
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…it was a typical Monday.
I settled in for several hours of work at my desk. Payroll, bills to work through and pay, some new software to study…it would take all day. But in the afternoon I had the opportunity to take a break. My husband needed some help ferrying equipment from one hayfield to another, six miles away, and I was elected chauffeur and signal-woman.
The drive to Brixey was so pretty. All the roadsides are ablaze with color right now. Wildflowers are abundant, after all the spring rains we had. In this patch, you can see purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans and Queen Anne’s lace.
I noticed this wild rose growing on a fence as we headed east, and on one of my trips, I got out in the road and snapped the picture. A guy came along, stopped and asked if I needed help. When he saw my camera, he just smiled and said, “Happy shooting!” In the Ozarks, people still stop and check to see if you need help.
The orange of butterfly weed is brilliant among the other flowers. This fellow was drinking deeply and didn’t flutter away when I approached.
Wild bee-balm (bergamot) attracts more than bees…what a pretty butterfly! I have a red cultivar of this flower in one of my beds, but this one is so delicate and pastel. It thrives without any extra attention, and being a member of the mint family, it smells delightful!
As we drove down the lane, the cattle were enjoying the pond on a warm summer afternoon. Black angus need to stay cool and seek out shade or water in the heat of the day.
The fescue has grown tall and lush and now is in that golden state, typical of hot summer.
Here is our destination: the emptied hay field with the baler left behind. Stan will take it to its next job, while I follow along with my flashers blinking a warning to anyone coming up behind.
Right out in the middle of the hay field stands this remnant of a long-ago homestead. It is one of my favorite places on our whole farm, because it tells so many stories. It tells of the determination of the homesteader who built such a strong, beautiful chimney for the hearth of his home. It tells of his artistry, because with no machinery, only his two hands and some kind of chipping tool, he hewed these limestone rocks into puzzle pieces that still fit together snugly, more than 100 years later. And it tells of his strength and ingenuity. With the help of a team of horses or mules, he hauled the heavy rocks to this place where he chose to build his home, and then he hefted them into place. Do you see the lintel, the large stone over the opening of the fire box? It spans the entire width and must weigh several hundred pounds. Perhaps he used a pulley of some kind and let the team lift it into place.
My husband’s uncle, who is 89 years young, recalls visiting in this place when he was a very small boy. He remembers entering the one-room log cabin and seeing an old woman sitting in a rocking chair, smoking a pipe. A fire is blazing on the hearth beside her, and the place is snug and warm. Uncle Lester says the home felt old and worn back then. I wonder how long these stones have been standing as a sentinel in this field.
It is a nuisance for my husband and his helpers to have to work around this island of history in the middle of a big, open field. But it will stand as long as it can, for we will never push the fireplace over. We will never fail to admire its beauty and simplicity. And I will never stop thinking of the stories it could tell, if only it could talk….
The road home, in the late afternoon, simply beckons one to follow around the next curve. As I went down the hill, a large doe was standing right in the middle of the road. I slowed and let her look at me before she decided to go on into the piney woods. I wondered if her fawn was already across.
Now it is time to go close up the chicken house for the night and watch the lightning bugs begin to appear. They are so plentiful this year and right now, at dusk, are blinking a thousand greetings to each other. I’ve tried to capture them in a photograph but just don’t have the skill to do so.
What I truly wish I could do is capture the heavenly fragrance in the air as I walk down the hill. There is a huge elderberry bush in beautiful full bloom right behind the chicken house, and it smells wonderful. Doesn’t it remind you of lace?
As Mondays go, this has not been a bad day…not bad, at all. I hope that you live in a place where you can see the lightning bugs flickering in the softness of the evening and can enjoy the natural beauty of wildflowers growing along the roads.
Comments (12)
What a wonderful post and beautiful photos. Everything looks heavenly… I’d forgotten just how beautiful it is there. Thanks for the memories!
Janet, that was such a beautiful and peaceful account of life on your farm!!! Thank you for sharing both the beauty and the history of it!
Your photography has been a joy to see. I especially liked your picture and story of the old stone chimney. I too often wonder about the people, the times, and their stories when I see an old forgotten chimney. What a treat to have Uncle Lester’s few memories of the log cabin.
Came visiting from a rec from Glo ~ what a lovely way to start my day, reading about yours
I love living in the middle, too, though I live 1/2 a day east. It’s the best kept secret
Beautiful post, so glad I found it. It’s great that you honor the remains of someone elses dream that way. Myself, I’m just too busy to write..
What a pretty farm you have, looks so peaceful – the wild flowers are beautiful & love the old fireplace guarding its home. Thanks for sharing your world with me.
Jan, you have such a wonderful way of helping me see the spectacular beauty of the “ordinary” things all around me. I drive that Brixey route often and now will see it with new eyes. It’s sort of like that moment in Wizard of Oz when the screen goes from b/w to color.
Janet, you really captured the essence of living in the Ozarks. So much beauty, so much history….it’s truly a paradise and WOW….we’re lucky enough to live here! I can’t imagine anyone living amongst these flowers, mills, winding roads, rivers, lakes and streams, not feeling that their home is a ‘piece of heaven’. God has surely done some of his most creative work in these hills and his signature is evident everywhere here! Thanks for starting my week on a high note!
Sigh…such a beautiful place. I am so glad that you take time to enjoy it; so many people rush through their days never appreciating the beauty around them. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Looks alot like what is going on around here right now. lol Not that many miles separate us.
Just now getting a chance to catch up on my Xanga friends…a wild week! I love this post – I’m so glad I have you to teach me the names of the Ozarks wildflowers…I didn’t know many of those…but I see them and love them every day here in our sweet, beautiful hills.
I’m so glad we found your hills. A preacher friend told me last week, when I was telling him of discovering these hills and feeling so at home here, even though I’m such a newcomer, he said, “You are at home. It’s like when God called Abraham out and told him, ‘I’m going to give you a new country.’ He’s brought you here and given you a new home.”
What a blessing!
Thank you for a beautiful look into your world and your days. Your farm is just lovely. And you knew I’d ADORE that old fireplace. What stories it could tell!
What a wonderful way to experience a Monday, enjoying creation. I love your fireplace too! Hiking in some woods looking down over the Missouri River this spring we came across a foundation to some old building–maybe a cabin, but just out in the middle of nowhere, in the deep woods. I was mystified to know the story, but the story has probably gone to the grave.