Farming implements that have out-lived their usefulness can make themselves useful in another way. I think this picture by my cousin, Deitra Linzy Beavers, in rural Crittenden County, Kentucky exudes Wabi-sabi pertty. These items were profoundly utilitarian in their day and they were probably used on that very property until they were no longer needed. Yes, they can look a mess in some circumstances, but in other circumstances like this, they tell stories.

If we can just let our minds wander on dead grandparents, aunts and uncles, we can hear those stories. For me, scenes like that remind me of the tough times my Mom and Dad’s families must have endured on rural farms during the 1920s -1940s in Crittenden and Lyon Counties, Kentucky. When I see an achingly beautiful image like this, I can hear my lovely, strong aunt telling the story of her and my father hitching up horses to a wagon to go pick as much corn as possible with an early frost on the way. Then, later that day, my father leaving home to join the Army and not returning for years.

Useless junk? Hardly.

Photo Credit:

14 February 2016 Deitra Linzy Beavers