Family Farm, Deer Creek Township, Illinois, August 2019

Horses have come to my family’s farm in Illinois, and they are enjoying the wide open space of the pasture on the west side of the road. The cattle peacefully coexist at the southern end of the pasture on the day I was there. The barns are also being fixed up, and in particular, the one…

From the Vault: Family Farm, Maynard, Iowa

Update: The house was removed in 2019. Back in September 2011, when I photographed my family’s farm northwest of Maynard, Iowa, the corn was just about ready to start turning a golden brown, ready for harvest. There is a pale yellow Sears four-square house still on the farm, though the barns are now all gone…

Old Cottonwood Tree, August 2018

Against all odds, the last of five cottonwood trees planted several generations ago is still alive. The debris from when it was hit by lightning has been cleaned up since 2016.

Family Farm, August 2018

Things are looking good around the family farm, even if it has been a dry summer. The barns are now surrounded by grass and corn.

Cottonwood Tree, Family Farm

Update: See the cottonwood tree in August of 2018. As late as August 2015, this cottonwood tree, the last of four or five “natural lightning rods” was still alive and well. The ice storm in early 2016 felled the deadwood. We will see what it looks like when spring comes; more of that tree is…