Country Life

Here’s a lovely, lovely article — “Winter Feasting at Essex Farm” — from Gourmet Live. Thanks, Kristin, for allowing us to repost it and feature these photos. While not open to the public, the farm, located in upstate New York, does have scheduled tours. Learn more about those, the 200-member Essex Farm CSA, and Kristin Kimball’s “Dirty Life” at KristinKimball.com.

Essex Farm

 Photos courtesy of Kristin Kimball

Today, the little town of Jacksonville, Ala., pressed “pause” to welcome home Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson. The downtown square was decked out with American flags and banners, hundreds of people lined the streets, National Guardsmen gave salute, elementary students filled the town, high schoolers stood outside their school with a wave of  welcome, and police and fire fighters turned out en masse — all to pay tribute to a brave soldier who was wounded and paralyzed in Afghanistan on May 1, 2010. Perhaps only in small town America can we still witness life coming to a halt, if only for a moment, to give thanks to one young man who risked his life for his country. Read the full story here or see a slideshow from today’s ceremony.

 Photos by The Anniston Star

Mike and I love to go driving country backroads every chance we get, and we’re always captivated by the sights we see along the way. In particular, the old buildings and homes that speak of another time, and the charming Georgia and Alabama downtowns that sprung to life with the railroads and today struggle to stay alive and keep up with modern society.

How fortunate we are that folks like Brian Brown have dedicated their lives to preserving these places in photographic history so that they never become lost to us forever. A historian, photographer and author from Fitzgerald, Ga., Brian spends his days documenting, through photography, the vernacular architecture of small towns and the culture and countryside of South Georgia. His website, Vanishing South Georgia, and book, Vanishing Irwin County, the first in what will be a continual series, are just part of his ambitious project list. Brian calls his work a “wonderful obsession” and cites William Christenberry’s Alabama photographs as a major influence on his decision to create Vanishing South Georgia.

In his statement of purpose, the photographer and poet says he wants to “bring attention to the many crossroads and small towns which a century ago were thriving centers of life and commerce. Most today are mere ghost towns of their former selves, and with Vanishing South Georgia, I hope to give them a permanent photographic presence, for future generations, whether their interests be trivial, genealogical, or historical.”

Here are just a few of his photographs. See and learn more at Vanishing South Georgia or on Flickr.

Copyright Brian Brown and Vanishing Media, LLC, 2008-2011