Put Out to Pasture

Some of my childhood memories are the weekends when my family would

visit our relatives on their farms.  As I close my eyes, I can almost visualize

each of their farmhouses and barns.  In addition, somewhere in those

memories are the old cars, trucks and tractors that were lined up somewhere

on each of the farms.  My kin, though, were not unusual in their collections

as many farms, even today, seem to have a similar line of rusted, broken

down vehicles.  It is as if there is some deep felt attachment between the

implements and the farm owner.  And rather than scrap them, a choice has

been made to keep them near at hand.  Perhaps, they have simply been "put

out to pasture."

Several years ago, my wife and I were wandering through the southern part

of Georgia.  Like most of our weekend trips, we had no particular destination

in mind.  Instead, we were simply driving.  Sometime in the early afternoon,

as we passed through a small farm community, one field caught my eye.

  There, like my relatives' farms, was a small collection of old trucks that

were "out to pasture."  The truck which stood out from the others is the

subject of this painting, a 1935 ton and a half with dual rear wheels.