Beautiful
Bygone Days
Scenes such as this make me think of a time when the family farm was a common sight. In days gone by, the livelihood of family farmers depended on the manual labor of the entire family — adults and children alike.
Families worked together on their farms to cultivate and harvest any number of crops, or to raise and care for livestock and other farm animals. Their work days were typically long, and their duties often required them to work extensively in the extreme heat or cold.
Although I never worked on a farm myself, I grew up around farmers. My grandfather’s flour and feed mill was the destination of farmers who either sold their grain to the mill or had their grain ground into feed for their animals.
As a child, one of my distinct memories regarding farmers at the mill is of my brother and me helping farmers’ children shovel grain from their truck beds into the grain pit at the edge of the mill’s porch through which grain was carried to a storage bin inside the mill.
Jumping into the back of those large grain trucks offered a way to have fun, and I still recall the exhilaration of my bare feet sinking down, down into the sea of grain.
The best part of shoveling the grain into the pit was when the bed of a truck that had a hydraulic lift was slowly raised. That’s when the remaining grain would start rapidly falling into the grain pit — and we’d hang on for dear life as the truck bed reached its peak! It was simple, clean fun. Well, actually it wasn’t exactly clean, because we could be pretty dusty by the end of the day!
From such childhood experiences at the mill, I developed a lasting affinity for farmers and their families. They were authentic and unpretentious. They were hard-working and fun-loving.
With the demise of many family farms, I lament the passing of a way of life that has embodied the very best of human qualities and vocations.
Reflections
For years I’ve regularly driven Highway 421 between Lewisville and Winston-Salem. On so many occasions, I looked over at the property of Joe’s Landscaping and Nursery and saw the sunlight creating a strikingly beautiful scene. Most often it was early morning light or late evening light that transformed portions of the property into nature’s works of art.
Whenever I observed those beautiful scenes, I’d typically experience a brief feeling of euphoria, followed by a tinge of emotional pain. Why the pain?
The pain has something to do with seeing a moment of beauty and wanting to capture and share it, but having to let go of that possibility, due to demands or circumstances. In this instance, a four-lane, rush-hour scenario was the foremost deterrent! Even though I knew pulling off the highway was not realistic, that still did not assuage the sense of loss that I felt.
Perhaps the desire to share the beauty one observes is common to those of us who are artists at heart. Whatever the reason for that desire, I think it’s in my DNA.
Evening Light
The late evening light was painting a beautiful scene before me as I walked by this house on Shallowford Road. For the first time, I stopped to read the historical marker that had been placed on the property in 2007 by the Lewisville Historical Society. The text of the marker reads:
CHARLES L. SPAUGH HOUSE, ca. 1900 — Charles L. Spaugh, a Christian and civic leader in Lewisville, built this large two-story house with lumber from his own sawmill for his wife Doris Alspaugh and their family. Jesse Joel Jones, Sr., and his wife Annie Shermer Jones purchased this home in 1931. The ownership of this house has remained in the Jones family for 75 years. One of the notable owners includes Lola Elizabeth Jones Kiger.
When I was growing up, my family simply referred to the house as the “Kiger House.” I hadn’t heard of Charles Spaugh before, nor had I realized the house was over 100 years old. Like so many things or buildings I frequently pass by in Lewisville, I’d not given much thought to the background of this house.
Hmmm, I think I’ll investigate the other historical sites in the township. I’ll keep you posted! Meanwhile, you can view a few more photos in the Charles Spaugh House photo gallery.
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