A backroad

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... The Rural Life...

We took one of the push mowers to be repaired the other day, and this morning I stopped to see if it was ready. These photos were taken at opposite ends of the road where the mower repairman and his family live.

The George Shaw Road travels through the countryside from a ridge on Pilot Rock Road (above) to a creek crossing on Butler Road (below). By Christian County standards, it's a sparsely populated area. Only three sets of farm buildings are found along the several miles of road. All are owned by Mennonite families. Two of them run dairy farms and the third has the lawn mower repair shop.

I do notice when I drive down that road that I seem to be far out in the country. Large open fields stretch into the distance on one side of the road and on the other side, milkcows graze in their pastures. The road winds a little so it can pass close to each farmhouse.

A few big oaks grow along the roadside, and the farm buildings are shaded by trees, but the road does not pass by any patches of woods. Isaac commented the other day that it almost feels like the prairie. I think it has that feeling because it is unusually free of trees and houses.

Most country roads here are paved, but this road is still just graveled. That's a good reason to drive slowly and roll down the windows to hear the bird songs and smell the fresh air.

Years ago, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils recorded a great song called, "Backroads". Dennis says that it's my theme song -- "I take the backroads wherever I go..." Well, I'll accept the song as one of the themes of my life. I don't advocate or enjoy driving around drinking beer and whiskey (as mentioned in the song), but I do enjoy driving the country roads whenever possible.



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Winter wheat

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... More About Trees and Plants... The Rural Life...

Across Christian County, and indeed, across America, another wheat crop is well underway. In Christian County, virtually all wheat is winter wheat. It is planted in October, and the seeds sprout and grow until the weather gets cold.

The wheat goes dormant when the cold days of winter arrive. It begins growing again when the warmer weather of early spring rouses it. Farmers usually apply some nitrogen fertilizer in February.

By June or July (depending on the variety and the weather) the wheat is mature and ready for harvest. Combines gather the grain from the wheat stalks, and trucks transport the grain from the field to a drying and storage facility, either on the farm or at a grain elevator.

Then the wheat straw is baled, and soybeans are sowed in the stubble. The soybeans mature in the fall and are harvested before winter wheat is sowed again. The soybeans help prepare the soil for the next crop because, like all legumes, they are nitrogen-fixing plants.

And so we are fed with the bounty of the land.

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Prom and All Its Agony

All In The Family...

Isaac's neckline looks a bit untidy because he doesn't like to fasten the top button on his shirt. But he looked very spiffy, I thought. His date backed out on him in a very unkind way about a week ago, so I was proud that Isaac went to Prom anyhow. He danced with four different girls, hung out with his friends, took lots of pictures, and had a good time.

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Seen at the Flower Shop

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

The flower shop's back porch

These two photos were taken at West and Witherspoon, a flower shop on South Virginia Street in Hopkinsville.

An old bookcase with an attractive paint job.

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Edge of the Woods

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... More About Trees and Plants...

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep."

The road that leads to our house runs right beside a patch of woods. A shagbark hickory tree with its distinctive peeling bark grows on the right. Most of the green ground cover in the foreground is poison ivy.

When I decide to venture into the woods, I enter from higher up the hill where the poison ivy isn't so thick.

The rule about poison ivy is, "Leaves of three, let it be."

Poison ivy - a closer look.

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