In The Land Of Cotton

Linda Burton posting from Montgomery, Alabama – It started as I was leaving Florida. Farmland, I mean. Just north of Gainesville I spotted cattle grazing; their green pastures half hidden behind oak trees hanging thick with moss; the soft morning fog creating pastoral scenes worthy of an art collector’s wall. You might think of Florida as the citrus state, but what I saw coming north on I-75 was cattle, and billboard ads for western wear. I crossed the Suwanee River; notes painted on its sign set the tune off in my head. Nothing touristy here, just homefolks, working their land. I’m headed for Alabama today, and Montgomery, but there’s a stop I want to make along the way. It has to do with farming, and with change. West on I-10, traffic thins and pine trees thicken; then I turn north again. Off the freeway driving slows; there’s farmland everywhere; I find myself on Cotton Street. And yes, a cotton field is to my left. The stop I want to make? The Boll Weevil Monument in Enterprise, Alabama, the only monument to an agricultural pest anywhere in the world. » read more