We are so far removed from what we see here. There were barely any middlemen between Frances Cheney and her land. She just had to choose a piece of land and then build something on it to claim it. There are no trees to be seen so in order to build that shack the Cheney's needed to bring everything with them in that wagon.
Click on image to see it larger.
What was it about this desolate and dusty spot that appealed to them? Flat as far as the eye can see. Eastern Colorado? Could they see the Rockies off to the West? Behind them the flat vista of Kansas? How close were neighbors? A town? Water?
Oh how easy it is for us to get up each morning from our comfortable bed and get breakfast before leaving our home to go work. We have a fridge with food and a stove that simply needs to be turned on. But then we also have the daily drama of people we don't know and wouldn't want to know intruding into our lives with their bad behavior; I'm talking about television and the net. In the evening it's likely these folks stood outside watching the nightly celestial show, not what stupid thing Murdoch and his minions did that day.
Would these folks exchange their lives for ours? Or would we exchange ours for theirs? Or would we both just want a happy balance between the two? That's what I'm looking for. A foot in both places leaving the consumerism of today outside my world, bringing nature and the stars at night closer.
Just another image from the Ten Buck Box.
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An older friend is schooled in photography, and has taken to adding clouds to what would otherwise be as stark as you see here. Sometimes, especially in these kind of photos, a few clouds and 'big sky' are a welcome. She would have had to more than just build on it - she had to IMPROVE it. A dwelling is not sufficient. Perhaps she had access to water for a truck garden.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, clouds would make a HUGE difference in this image. Instead it just looks like a sky of dust.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine how hard these people had to work to "improve" this piece of land, especially knowing all of it could be gone with one big storm.
when I see images like this I just think "How did they do it?"
ReplyDeleteMy hats off to them and other like them that persevered and made their home. Me? I go here for peace and quiet:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katheworsley/sets/72157627232940206/
Would not want to trade with that lady - but you are right about the fact that things are way too fast and furious now. As I get older, I do find that I actually do live a much simpler life. Age tends to free you up from wanting everything you see. Glad you liked my sweet pictures - I don't find the artists' names. Things from the twenties and thirties are wonderful. Carol
ReplyDeleteGreat image. Very simple but it makes you realize how hard our ancestors had it.
ReplyDeleteA Striking Image. So Strong & Powerful.Bravo Mr (or Mrs) Cameraperson.
ReplyDeleteYes a very striking image. I recommend a terrific book called: The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. It's about the depression years and the Great Dust Bowl out west. Photos like this are all about that survival on the plains.
ReplyDelete