Clint and I were out the door early, yesterday, to go to a farm auction in Sullivan, IL. He was on a mission for tools, while I saw the day as a cool photographic opportunity: Tools, farmers, a small-town neighborhood and country roads to wander.
We meandered through country roads to get there, and while puttering down one, we noted this Amish farmer. My camera, of course, was still in the bag. We meant to slow down, change lenses, and get the a shot of a lifetime, but I ended up just snapping this photo through the windshield.
Click to enlarge image.The photo doesn't do anything to portray the magnificence of the moment. I know these are scenes that happen every day in this particular community, but for me and Clint, it was a surreal moment.
It was as if we had driven through a time portal for about 15 seconds. It was 2009, then 1856, and just as suddenly we were shaking our heads, back into the 21st century again. We were still driving when that photo was taken, and our car ended up parallel to the team as it turned at the fence. 8 powerful horses hooked up this plow, and in the midst of the cloud of soil they kicked up, one man, smiling and waving, like an Amish Zeus.
There are millions of moments in our life, many which we'll laugh at, maybe that we share with friends, and most of which we'll forget 2 weeks from now. This one, I think made an imprint on both of us; it was a "moment" that will be with us forever.
As the photo does it no justice, I find I can't write it as it was either. I just wish I could take you back there, and re-enact it. Let's go.
I think you described it perfectly. I think I know exactly what you mean. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI love those moments, though we have nobody farming at this time of year, much less amish...
ReplyDeleteLike Geewits said, I think you described it really well.
You. Me. 2 oclock. Lets go.
ReplyDeleteI have strong memories of moments like that. I remember once driving by a cemetery out in the country...there was just a handful of people standing there at a funeral and that scene is etched into my head. Another time as were driving in the country a hawk right past our windshield with a snake hanging from his beak....
ReplyDeleteWe have some ancient horse-drawn machinery rusting back into nothing in our fields. I often think of that last day it was used before it was abandoned - they excitement and pride the farmers felt as they prepared for their new tractor, the anticipation of a little relief from their back-breaking work.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if, in the back of their minds, they ever had a sense of the way of life that was being abandoned, too. What it would really mean to stable the horses for the last time. To replace the sounds of their clopping hooves and jangling tack and whinnies and snorts forever with the sounds of the tractor's engine. The smells of leather, sweat and manure changed for exhaust and oil. They probably didn't even have time. Before they knew it, it was all but a distant memory.
It happens everywhere you just have to get out of the "city"... Last week we drove into a small mining town in AZ. that's been there since the late 1800's. Of course it is a bit of a tourist trap, but the actual drive there, seeing old abandoned pits, rusted metal fences, dilapidated old shacks, that is what took us into the past...
ReplyDeletePhoto and writing.. ya did good kid... You conveyed the moment to a tee..
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