Sign of the times?

In all the years I've lived here, the field behind our house has either been full of corn, wheat, soy, or in earlier years, cows. This year all it's full of is the leavings of last year's crop. This is the first season I can remember that it has lain empty. Unplowed, unfertilized, and unplanted. It's depressing.



Used to be I could reach across the back fence and feed the cows the field clover that threatened to overtake my lawn. Used to be the farmer would round them up at o'dark:thirty on his motorcycle or, in later years, just swing a light by the barn, call "come on, cow" and off they'd go to be milked. It was a hoot. When they got moved to an adjacent field, I could still take my teeny-tiny granddaughter under our fence into the common area where she looooved being able to see those huge beasts up close and personal.

In the ensuing years the cows were moved a couple of fields across the farm and the field behind our house became a crop field, providing feed for a steadily decreasing number of cows. Little by little, the farm has become less and less productive. What was once a proud and well-kept dairy farm, has fallen into disrepair. The main house, barn and outbuildings are in dire need of paint and a little TLC. There seems to be little pride or interest in keeping the place tidy.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago the farmer did make a pass over the unprepared field with his planting machine. It'll be interesting to see what grows.