That's my Preacher Man standing in a cotton field not far from the home I grew up in. When I was in grade school at RIII Elementary School which my Daddy built, we went to summer school and were out in the fall for cotton picking season. At that time cotton was still picked by hand. Yep sack on the back! The kids were out of school for the picking season to help harvest the cotton on the farm. Once you've picked cotton you never forget it. Hard work starting early in the morning while there is still some dew on the cotton. The extra moisture caused the cotton to weigh in heavier and therefore you got paid more. The cotton was weighed and you were paid so much per pound you picked. As time progressed the farmer went to machinery for harvesting the cotton. Each cotton bowl is loaded with seed. The seed for the following year is set aside at the gin where the cotton is cleaned before it is baled and sent down or up the Mississippi River. Days gone by but never forgotten...there is no fun like playing in a trailer full of cotton at the end of the day!
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