generations

I don't know how long this family farm has occupied its place at the intersection of Kidd Lake Road and Bluff Road in Monroe County Illinois, but I can guess: generations. One warm August morning I was driving

past it and a young woman was sitting there next to the barn in her truck eyeing me a little suspiciously. I can't say I blame her. This was probably her farm. Before that her father's. Before that his father's. And here was a stranger standing in the middle of Kidd Lake Road with a camera taking a picture of it. I would have eyed her a little suspiciously if it was the other way around.

That's Fults Hill Prairie high atop the bluffs to the right. One of the few hill prairies left in Illinois. It's been there since before the family farm. With a little help from generous land stewards and a lot of luck, it will be there for more generations as well.

I like to think taking a picture of this natural beauty, and of the manmade beauty in its shadow might do something about helping preserve them for generations too. Fixing them in time.

I don't have a big head about it. But I believe in the power of photography to preserve. I hope you do too.

So here we are on a warm August morning in the summer of 2015 on Kidd Lake Road. Ahead of us is history.