Picture of the day - June 26, 2007

A tree growing out of an abandoned silo

Photo courtesy of Jeff Weaver. Today's picture features a barn and silo that apparently haven't been used in quite some time. While it isn't unusual to see an old silo with Virginia Creeper vines growing on it or even scrub brush growing up around it, it isn't often that we run across one with a tree growing inside of it with its top branches sticking up through the top! A drive down virtually any country road in southwestern Virginia will take you past any number of abandoned barns and silos, and photographer Jeff Weaver spotted this one a few days ago on Rocky Hollow Road near Troutdale in rural Grayson County. Intrigued with the tree growing in the silo, he stopped and captured this wonderful image with a 6 mega-pixel Samsung S630 digital camera. More and more of the small family farms in our neck of the woods are going idle each year because their owners are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the large corporate farms and cheap imports of food products from countries where decent wages aren't exactly a priority. I just hope that some of these beautiful old farm structures can continue to survive the elements and avoid the wrecking ball. After all, they are poignant reminders of a simpler time when proud families from coast to coast got up at 4:30 every morning to milk the cows and feed the hogs, just so the rest of us could have food to put on the table at dinner time! Note: You can check out more of Jeff Weaver's wonderful photos when you visit his website.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"