Thursday, December 6, 2012

Children of the cotton.

Heading south to Georgia, I know I'm getting close when I see the cotton growing. When I was a kid and working in a fast food place, people would come in after a shift at the mill with bits of cotton in their hair.
From a distance, it sometimes looks as if there has been a dusting of snow. I always like seeing the cotton fields. It feels like home to me.
But this picture that was in the paper Thanksgiving day? That's just creepy to me.

46 comments:

  1. Indeed, it looks like snow, this was my first thought!
    życie & podróże
    gotowanie

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  2. smiles....been by those cotton fields....corn is home to me...and cows...lots of cows i pass each day...not always as pretty as cotton...

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    1. Corn and cows we have in abundance, too. I lived a big part of my childhood on a small farm that had both.

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  3. I saw some cotton fields while visiting Arizona. I like that first photo, because it looks like a sunny day after a heavy snow.

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    1. And you can walk in it without getting your feet wet.

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  4. Child labor, you think? Those kids are awfully young!

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    1. Oh, I suspect they are just the children of whoever owns that farm.

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  5. That last picture is somewhat odd, esp. with the caption. Sharecroppers children? I've also seen pictures of children in the Postbellum period with huge sacks of cotton on their backs that were not cheery. Heading home for the holidays? Enjoy.

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    1. The kids don't look poor to me, they are dressed too nicely. I think sharecroppers children have really sad lives. And no, this was my trip at Thanksgiving.

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  6. Okay, first I have to say....I LOVE YOUR POST TITLE!

    HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It's flawless!

    Beautiful photos, especially the second one of the field. And yes, they do look like a light dusting of snow!

    That last photo looks like an ad for Ralph Lauren cotton shirts for children!

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    1. Thanks! I was wondering if anyone would even catch the movie reference, so I'm glad you did!

      And it does look like an ad. They definitely look like they were intentionally dressed for that photo.

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  7. Not a fan of the picture at all. I'm with you there! We have sooooooooo many cotton fields in my town. I think it's pretty cool!

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    1. I just sent a chill over me when I saw that picture, and I'm not even sure why.

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  8. That is a different type of picture. I wish there were more of a caption to it; it just doesn't sit well with me.

    I never saw cotton growing; I'm sure it could look like snow. I'm sure it is hard work to work in a cotton field too!

    betty

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  9. I've never seen cotton growing either. It does look rather pretty. The creepiness of that picture is mostly about the caption. That paper needs an editor :)

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    1. It's the "loving" part that makes it kind of bizarre, I think.

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  10. I know nothing about growing cotton and never realised that a cotton field could look so pretty.

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    1. Oh, they're beautiful. Sometimes you just drive through miles of them.

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  11. I can't believe I've never seen a cotton field in person. WTH kind of American am I? I'm with Ron in that the photo looks like a weird Ralph Lauren ad.....just make it black and white and have them kissing instead!

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    1. I guess having lived mostly in the South, they seem common to me, but it makes sense that you might never have seen one.

      If you had them kissing, that would make it even creepier, I think.

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  12. now that's one thing i've never seen is a cotton field in full...uh...is it "bloom?"

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    1. I think it is considered being in bloom when the bolls are puffed out like that.

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  13. I've never seen a cotton field either!

    As for that photo-- They're not looking too happy to me. It IS kinda creepy.

    xo jj

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    1. Huh - I'm surprised at how many people are saying that.

      They look to me like they are reluctantly holding hands.

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  14. That photo makes me think of the scene in Forest Gump where the kids escape out back into the corn field.

    Flash 55 - Wanted: Dead or Alive?

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  15. I remember seeing cotton fields when we traveled in the south as a kid, but I don't think I ever saw them all white.

    This is because my job, but those kids look like many of my abused/neglected child clients. The look on the girl's face is especially worrisome.

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    1. SAW, forgive me for replying to one of your comments. chlost, I agree. I wasn't a pediatrician, but I have seen abused children, and they have a look. I think the picture is old, perhaps from the newspaper (?) archive, and I don't think the story behind it is a good one. Also guessing, but look at the girls head, broad forehead, hairline rather back, eyes closer together than is usual. I've seen this in case studies, and it sometimes points to, well, unseemly things.
      The picture disturbs me the more I look at it. I think it was taken long ago, and I hope the best for the two children.

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    2. I know, and I think it's why I find it so creepy. I see way too many abused kids, and adults who were abused. These DON'T look like happy kids to me. It feels like something out of a Faulkner novel.

      I'm not sure, though, that it's an old photo. It has that look because it's in a newspaper, but it was featured as the "Photo of the Day," which suggests a recent picture by a reader.

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  16. Those cotton fields are beautiful..and so are those kids:-)
    Thanks for sharing...and yes, the picture of the kids look old (but perhaps instagram was used).

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    1. It's just a newpaper photo - that's how they often look. But the kids... I don't know.

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  17. It does look like snow, doesn't it? makes very lovely photos, though.
    Maggie x

    Nuts in May

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  18. I have never seen cotton growing!! (and I think that pic is kind of cute) :)

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  19. The most I've seen was in western TN. I don't think the picture is creepy but the caption could redone.

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    1. I guess that people who deal with child abuse victims probably see this photo differently than others.

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  20. It's funny to think I've worn so many cotton clothes in my life but I've never seen a cotton field. It looks so pretty and romantic but I bet it's back-breaking work picking the stuff as you say.

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    1. Don't you think we're pretty cut off in general from the origins of things we consume?

      And yes, I do think it can be brutal work.

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  21. Dang... Flashback cotton. Cotton was a popular crop in CA when I was in school. Probably still is, but I don't recall seeing it much before we left. We used to play in the big piles of cottonseed. All the dairies would feed it to their cows. Nice pictures!

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    1. Thanks. I lived too far north in CA to see any cotton there.

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  22. I see no reason why any kid would love a cotton field. They may look all right from a distance, but the plants themselves are thorny and nasty.

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  23. So the fields still had cotton at Thanksgiving? It is so pretty. Yes I agree, the picture is creepy.

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  24. Cotton fields are just so pretty. I have seen them before many years ago. And the picture? Yes, incredibly creepy.

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