Lens-Artists Challenge #75 – Nostalgic

“To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”

Margaret Fairless Barber

TWO RED BARNS

Last week Patti asked us to respond to her “uniquely modern” abstract challenge. Shortly after I responded, I visited a new community nearby (featured later in this post), which moved me in the complete opposite direction to the idea of days gone by. So this week, let’s look back a bit with a touch of nostalgia.

BALES

“Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days.”

Doug Larsen

For me, one of the things most evocative of the past is the concept of a family farm. Unfortunately, my nostalgic view is probably quite different from reality. While I love things like hay bales along peaceful rolling hills or classic red barns, I have no firsthand experience with the difficulties of truly managing a farm. Up before the sun, totally dependent on the elements, managing livestock – I cannot begin to imagine the effort involved.

LAZY LIVESTOCK

“It’s never safe to be nostalgic about something until you’re absolutely certain there’s no chance of its coming back.”

Bill Vaughn

In the new community mentioned earlier and shown above, they’ve taken a unique approach. As one first drives in there is a relatively small farm located at the beginning of the property. There they grow simple crops and house livestock like goats and adorable Belted Galloway cows (often called oreos). The crops and goat cheese will be sold through a gourmet store also located on the property. A community farm seems a logical choice for a return to the “good old days” but with an approach that distributes the workload a bit.

FLOATING SPOONBILLS

“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.”

Franklin Pierce Adams

Just around a bend in the road the community fronts the Kiawah River where we came upon a floating log shared by several beautiful spoonbills and an egret. The peace and quiet of the moment brought to mind bygone days when such scenes might have been a bit more prevalent.

Patti, Amy, Ann-Christine and I look forward to seeing the nostalgic moments that are most special to you. Past holidays, times with family and friends, travel moments, or just something that reminds you fondly of days gone by – it’s your call. Give us a small peek into the things you’re nostalgic about. Be sure to link to my original post and to use the Lens-Artists Tag.

Many thanks to those of you who responded to last week’s Abstract challenge. We enjoyed the diversity of your responses and especially appreciate those in the U.S. who joined us during a holiday week.

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE?

Yvette of Priorhouse Blog gave us a very interesting psychological explanation of the appeal of abstract art

Sue Judd of WordsVisual showed us a number of techniques for creating abstract images

Gina of Photography in Pearls shared some abstract images of holiday lights from South Carolina’s Brookgreen Gardens

Finally, we welcome first-time responders Jussi Laasonen of Avaruussuo and Vero of Uprooted Wanderers

PLEASE NOTE we will not be publishing our challenge the week of December 21 to 27, but we hope you’ll join us next week as Amy posts Challenge #76.