This is incredibly powerful, thank you for sharing this story, thank you for not hiding how hard it is to farm in this way and thank you for making such wonderful images. One of the very best things I have read on Substack.
I have covered farming and farmers off and on in my career. In many locations, like Vermont, farming is a key reason Vermont is the way it is. Her story, though, is not that much different from those who tried to make a go of it in the early 1800s -- an unforgiving workload, rocky soil, extreme weather.
I felt a kind of melancholia with the ever Sisyphus-like farming combined with the seemingly unresolved sadness. And a shared common ground with Aubrey, the kind of existential conflict that open eyes deliver. I liked this a lot and of course your reading. Thanks :)
I like this story a lot. The photos tell a great story. Your voice, quiet and slow, helps the story as well. I had not thought about putting music or talking through my stories. Not sure it's me but it certainly works beautifully here.
thanks. I guess I started getting intrigued with voice when I worked at Young Writers Project. Some kids absolutely shined in slam poetry. And others loved recording their voice to the Photo Stories or Digital Stories I had them do or had their teachers do.
And I have to say that sometimes, when I see a good piece I WISH I could hear the author’s voice because when I do it invariably adds something that I would have missed.
This is incredibly powerful, thank you for sharing this story, thank you for not hiding how hard it is to farm in this way and thank you for making such wonderful images. One of the very best things I have read on Substack.
thank you so much Dave. that means a lot to me.
I have covered farming and farmers off and on in my career. In many locations, like Vermont, farming is a key reason Vermont is the way it is. Her story, though, is not that much different from those who tried to make a go of it in the early 1800s -- an unforgiving workload, rocky soil, extreme weather.
Yes, the story has a timeless feel to it and it’s a crying shame that it didn’t have the happy ending it deserved.
yep. still makes us sad.
I like this story very much! I felt an array of emotions reading this and viewing the photos.
This is such a moving story - a strong woman doing what she loved, yet there is only so much she can take. Beautifully photographed and written.
Powerful, poignant. I read it with a sense of foreboding, as your sub-title hints at the ending. A truly moving account Geoffrey.
thank you so much.
I felt a kind of melancholia with the ever Sisyphus-like farming combined with the seemingly unresolved sadness. And a shared common ground with Aubrey, the kind of existential conflict that open eyes deliver. I liked this a lot and of course your reading. Thanks :)
I like this story a lot. The photos tell a great story. Your voice, quiet and slow, helps the story as well. I had not thought about putting music or talking through my stories. Not sure it's me but it certainly works beautifully here.
thanks. I guess I started getting intrigued with voice when I worked at Young Writers Project. Some kids absolutely shined in slam poetry. And others loved recording their voice to the Photo Stories or Digital Stories I had them do or had their teachers do.
And I have to say that sometimes, when I see a good piece I WISH I could hear the author’s voice because when I do it invariably adds something that I would have missed.
Oh I so like this. I think for the last line I'd reverse the order so that the last sentence hangs on 'We miss her.' Just so sad.
Good point. I’ll change. Thanks.