About purple martins (see Tuesday’s post, “gourds and cans”): they have become entirely dependent on humans for nests in which to breed along the North American east coast.
Susie at pbmGarden sent me the link to a short (about 8 mins.) NPR documentary about the songbirds and the threats they face in the modern world (the fault is partly in Shakespeare).
Check it out here: “The Mystery of the Missing Martins” by Adam Cole
A few beautiful Kodachrome images of the season. . .
“Exhibit of crops and vegetables at the Pie Town, New Mexico, Fair,” 1940, by Russell Lee.
The story of Pie Town and of the photos Lee took there is here, in Smithsonian Magazine.
Mrs. Jim Norris canning vegetables, Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940, by Russell Lee. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.)
“Display of home-canned food,” between 1941 and 1945, photographer not noted.
All three images were taken for the U.S. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information on the then new Kodachrome color transparency film. All via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Oh! for a thousand pumpkin seeds,
To plant for my son John;
He says that pumpkin pies are good
When the winter time comes on.— Robert Charles O’Hara Benjamin, from “The Farmer’s Soliloquy“
Mayetta, Kansas, November 1940, by John Vachon, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Very pretty woodwork.
I’m wondering if the old boxspring was put to a new use and, if so, for what?
A fenced-in backyard in Georgia, ca. 1899, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
These photos were included in one of several albums depicting African American life, which were compiled by W. E. B. Du Bois for the 1900 Paris Exposition.
There’s a brief history of the American backyard here. Until the 20th century, it was a space for work, not recreation.
Another nice backyard scene via Museum Victoria: John and George Lee with push mowers, September 1956, Greensborough, near Melbourne, Australia.
The photo was contributed by Mrs. Brenda Lee to The Biggest Family Album of Australia project.
enclos*ure 