My last stop on my August travels was my family farm east of Peoria in Central Illinois. As longtime readers know, the cattle barn was destroyed by a tornado in late March. These photos are from late August, but the destroyed barn is now completely cleaned up.

I also had a surprise, as the last cottonwood tree across the road in the pasture is still clinging to life, even though we all thought it had been killed by the tornado when its last branch was sheered off. There were originally five of them, planted by one of two ancestors named Christian Naffziger, either my great-great-great-grandfather or my great-great-uncle. We’re not sure. I remember watching my grandfather cutting up one that had fallen over thirty years ago with a chainsaw when he was in his seventies.

Cottonwoods attract lightning really easily, and this one was struck I think multiple times, burning out the interior. It is really something to see.

We’ll be back in St. Louis tomorrow.