Sunday, September 15, 2013

In the Land of Cotton


One of the best ways to see the change of seasons 
is to head out of the city.
Yesterday was a clear, sunny autumn day
so we took a drive to Southampton County, Virginia.

Southampton County is crisscrossed with old plantations
and working farms, and one of the first things I noticed
was that most of the corn fields had already been picked,
leaving expanses of golden stubble.

This is what corn stubble looks like, 
but in Southampton County, the terrain is Delta-flat.

Soybean fields are still full and green,
as are the cotton fields. 
The cotton fields are one of my favorites
probably because I'd never seen one until I lived in Arkansas 
for a couple of years.

For some reason when viewed from a distance, 
the green cotton plants
look like the Eastern Shore potato plants to me.
But up close, the green, unopened cotton boll 
lets you know the plant is not going to yield a bunch of potatoes.


Around mid-November, the leaves will dry 
and the cotton will pop out of its shell.
That's when I love to drive into the land of cotton--
when the fields are full of cotton waiting to be harvested.
It looks like snow--
only fluffy and warm.
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