Scenes From a Tractor Graveyard

Georgetown, TX

Scenes From a Tractor Graveyard

Georgetown, TX

January 2014

Relics

There is a house in Georgetown, TX surrounded by a collection of tractors, machinery, and spare parts.

I stepped out of my car to take some photos of the relics I found here, quietly chuckling to myself.  I pictured a man who had been a farmer or longed to be and his wife.  The man began dragging home carcasses of tractors and farm machinery convinced they could still serve a purpose much to his wife’s horror.  Over time their yard came to resemble a grave yard filled with metal skeletons.

Once long ago, each of these hulking carcasses served a purpose.  Each was specially designed to tackle a given task better than any other.  They were useful. Too soon a replacement came along, bigger, better, faster.  The once useful was thrown aside.

At the lowest point when it seemed each rusting hulk had outlived its usefulness, time came to the rescue revealing the beauty in them.  These relics became truly interesting.  One look at their metal bodies suggests they have stories to tell, stories of how things once were.  Stories filled with wisdom of the ages.

And so it goes for man and machine.  Time takes away the role we played well and held so dear, but time also mellows us with beauty and depth gained only through experience, giving us purpose once again in the lives of anyone wise enough to look and really see.

Mama Kat:  Inspired by Rust

Originally published 2014

Gainesville, Texas

I like a place that has stood the test of time.  The detail in the masonry of Gainsville's brick buildings shows craftsmanship and a pride in workmanship that is hard to come by these days.  Driving around the courthouse square you feel America.  Like some of these structures we may have seen some hard times, but we are still beautiful and we are still standing strong.