Friday, August 21, 2009

Clouds of Smoke



I am one of those people who is very sad to see field burning come to an end in agricultural history....at least here in the Willamette Valley. I grew up with its excitement. I love the smell. And, it is way better for the environment than all the chemicals farmers will now be forced to put into the soil to produce pure seed.



Actually, field burning is quite good when it comes to going green. The Native Indians in the Willamette Valley were the first to clear and clean through grass burning practices.



But, this entry is not supposed to be political, merely nostalgic. Last week I made my sons notice the plumes of smoke for the last time. I wanted them to have a foggy memory of this practice. Next year all field burning will cease on the flat, southern Valley.



I am not a poet, but I did attempt to do so with this topic.

Clouds of Smoke

The black smoke rises while
The flood of flames create rhythmic movements.

A man on the water truck,
Around the field he goes.

Into the Ark, the house,
We take all our pets.

Waiting inside...
The excitement builds.

Then it's done.
Black patches scatter the Valley.

The smell of burnt earth...
The field's cycle begins again.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Rebekah, this last picture is aboslutely beautiful. My favorite of them all. Thanks for the post and the poetry! Jen

Nicole Hotrum-Rice said...

You say you are not a poet, but that was awesome! Well written. Thanks for sharing!

My New Life As Mom said...

I found your site on themomblogs.com and I am located here in Oregon, too. I can't imagine how the farmers are going to work around the "anti field burning" but hopefully they'll find something.

I enjoyed your blog, thanks for sharing!

Laura said...

Glad you took the pictures to remember it. I'm sad too about it ending. Maybe in 10 years when they realize the chemicals are worse they'll let farmers burn again. One can only hope.

Rebekah said...

Welcome Stephanie! Nice to have you. :)

Lori said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment to let me know you stopped by. Feel free to come back and be a follower, Oregon rocks! Wish the sun would stay longer, but I love the changing seasons.

Lori

marilyn said...

The pictures turned out beautiful!
Marilyn