The Scarecrow

All winter through I bow my head
Beneath the driving rain;
The North Wind powders me with snow
And blows me black again;
At midnight 'neath a maze of stars
I flame with glittering rime,
And stand, above the stubble, stiff
As mail at morning-prime.
But when that child called Spring, and all
His host of children, come,
Scattering their buds and dew upon
These acres of my home,
Some rapture in my rags awakes;
I lift void eyes and scan
The sky for crows, those ravening foes,
Of my strange master, Man.
I watch him striding lank behind
His clashing team, and know
Soon will the wheat swish body high
Where once lay a sterile snow;
Soon I shall gaze across a sea
Of sun-begotten grain,
Which my unflinching watch hath sealed
For harvest once again.
 
- Walter de la Mare

Late Harvest

Harvest

Scarecrow And The Schoolhouse

Image by Kentucky Photo File.

Johnny

Abandoned

Effigy

Another fine scarecrow and photo shoot by Willow Cove.

Click here for more photos.

Scarecrows

Once I said to a scarecrow, “You must be tired of standing in this lonely field.”

And he said, “The joy of scaring is a deep and lasting one, and I never tire of it.”

Said I, after a minute of thought, “It is true; for I too have known that joy.”

Said he, “Only those who are stuffed with straw can know it.”

Then I left him, not knowing whether he had complimented or belittled me.

A year passed, during which the scarecrow turned philosopher.

And when I passed by him again I saw two crows building a nest under his hat.

Kahlil Gibran

Farmhands

Pennypacker Mills

Pennypacker Mills is a Colonial Revival mansion surrounded by 170 acres of farmland located in Perkiomen Township near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania on the shore of the Perkiomen Creek.  Originally built around 1720 by Hans Jost Hite, it was purchased in 1747 by Peter Pennebacker, and remained privately owned by Pennypackers for eight generations.

During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington used Pennypacker Mills in the fall of 1777 as a headquarters prior to the Battle of Germantown.

Rural Lighting

Amazing photography by Notley Hawkins.