I WISH I WAS IN THE LAND OF COTTON... LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY--

Meet the Cooley kids, Abbey and Robbie.

I had the priveledge of taking a few portraits of them this afternoon in a local cotton field. Yeah, genius idea, I know. However, as much as I would like for it to be, it wasn't my idea. It was their mother's. She has been a literal life-saver to me since our move. I met their sweet family when we first moved into the first rental home. They were our neighbors. I think everyone remembers what a hard time Joe had with the move and Robbie certainly helped ease his "move-sickness". So, below you'll see a few of my favorites, plus one of the Galyean Gang.

By the way, the cute pooch is "Tooley", Jackson's buddy. : o )

KT is always nosing around in new books. She finally came across a series, "Carolina Sisters", by Michael Phillips, that I absolutely LOVE. It is historical fiction and tells the tale of two Civil War Era girls who happen into each other's paths only to discover that they are biological cousins. No big deal -- except that one is black and the other white. Back then that was an even bigger deal than it is now. Anyway, the girls find themselves alone, with no one. So, they work the cotton fields in order to try make end meet.

I say all of that to say that the whole time I was in the field taking pictures today, I just couldn't get it out of mind what used to transpire in probably the very fields in which I stood. Wow. How far we have come......

"Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,

Old times there are not forgotten,

Look away, look away, look away

Dixie Land."