Thanks to the hundreds of acres of farmland around us, we have a
nearly unobstructed view to the west, splendid for admiring and
photographing sunsets .... except for the years when the farmer plants
corn, like this year. This past summer was just about perfect for
growing corn. They say it should be "knee high by the fourth of July"
but this year's corn was close to 5 feet by then already. And it just
kept going up and up and up. At its full height, the corn was around 7
feet tall and pretty much wiped out the whole horizon for all of summer
and autumn until it was finally harvested a couple weeks ago.
This solitary tree is one of my favorite subjects. Until late last
spring, a big old farmhouse stood near it. It had been home to many
different tenants over the decades, including my husband and I during a
lengthy remodel of our house. I don't know how old it actually was; it
had a limestone basement and had been added on to several times in its
long life. It always seemed to me to have a patient benevolent
attitude, a friendly house that enjoyed having people in it. (If you've
ever met an unfriendly house, you know the difference!)
But there comes a time when the infirmities of these old farmhouses become chronic and keeping them healthy costs more than they can return in revenue. Last spring, the farmer who owned the property tore the house down, buried it in its own basement, and seeded over the ground. You wouldn't know now that it had ever been there at all.
