End of harvest begins life cycle
Tranquil stillness envelops
the sprawling field now, the
harvest is over. Corn stalks,
zucchini plants, pumpkin pat
ches, tomato vines and
massive sunflower trees once
brimming with life now wither
gracefully through the short
autumn days. Where human
hands once rustled through the
leaves of corn stalks only the
chill wind now stirs, except for
a’few birds that sit and chirp
among the golden brown
tassles.
Sunflower trees that used to
rise straight and tall, have long
siriced aged, hunched over like
old men. Beans that were long
and green only weeks ago are
now contorted like old, arthritic
fingers, still clinging to their
I Story and photos
by Duffy Coffman
FINAL HARVEST-Kelly Moser
displays rewards of late season
rummaging through the crops.
'esday, November 7,1979
centimeters
Colors by Munsell Color Services Lab
vines. Tomato bushes collapse
into themselves, the deep red
fruit turning fuzzy. Pumpkin
and squash vines, just recently
plucked, weave long, twisting,
winding arms uselessly about.
Only a solitary watermelon
still grows, greening and
ripening its flesh in the oc-
caional sun that breaks through
the blanket of clouds and rain.
A few people still wander amid
the rows of aging plants, still
looking for late-arriving crops,
but the pickings are slim. The
weeds have taken over, in
festing themselves on the once
clear, brown-earthed plots. A
forest of gold and brown-tinged
scavengers, feeding upon the
dying foliage, just as we feed
on the living, continuing a very
natural cycle of life.