Welcome to ToTG!



March 25, 2008

Pioneer Woman

In the garden of the Lovett Memorial Library in Pampa stands this lovely statue, "Pioneer Woman", a tribute to the women who helped to settle this area.


I love to sit out in the garden on nice days and look at her; she changes colors with the position of the sun, a lovely golden-brown in the morning shade to a dull saffron in the afternoon glare. The shadows of the clouds scurrying overhead diffuse the light across her face, seemingly making her change expression.

She's not beautiful, but would be more what we might say here in Texas, "a handsome woman". The babe in arms shows she's fertile and that was a necessity for anyone wanting to carve out a future here on the Golden Plains. You needed a lot of sons to help with the plowin' and a few girls to help their momma take care of the menfolk.


I had been taking photos from the left because that's the way the sun was shining and I couldn't get a good photo from the other direction.


Something was wrong, though; it wasn't just the sun, but there was something a bit odd and I couldn't put my finger on it. It wasn't until I got home and downloaded all these photos and really looked closely at them that I saw what was bothering me. I even went back up to the library to verify what I had seen.


Mizz Pioneer Woman really needs to blow her nose; she's got a spider nest in her left nostril.

1 comment:

sharintexas said...

I really did enjoy seeing these pictures, Mike. You captured the essence of the statue very well. I've seen the statue in person, but you made me think about it in a different way. (not just the spider web!) Thanks for sharing.