Matheny, West Virginia, USA

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  "Gone But Not Forgotten" is one of the most common and most famous epitaphs. And, sure enough, the octogenarian farmer seems still to be around. See him on the tractor? And, so do the family cows. See them in the field? Thus ends a month of farmstead panoramas. Palm Memorial Gardens. [2019]

Julesburg, Colorado

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  Here is a headstone that stands as a pictorial memo to all future generations: a view of the farmstead that shaped a generation or two of the family. Well into the future one of their descendants may come by and say: So that's what the land looked like before the new highway brought in all those housing subdivisions! Julesburg Cemetery. [2019]

Knapp, Wisconsin

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  Perhaps their farmstead was not picture perfect. Perhaps she wanted a single-story ranch house instead of a two-story farm house. Voila! It looks like she got it. Now, it is a picture-perfect farmstead. Forest Hill Cemetery. [2012]

Greenville, Ohio

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  The linework in the etching is just as perfect as this family's lifework on the farm. If they invite you into their home, you will find a pot of coffee brewing on the stove. What else could they be brewing? Greenville Cemetery.  [2018]

Herman, Nebraska

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  Focus on that one lone tree: Heading west you are, leaving the forested "back forty" behind and heading into the great American grasslands. Trees will increasingly be limited to the banks of streams (intermittent or perennial) and to the yards of farm houses where they can be nurtured into shade-giving maturity. Herman Cemetery. [2007]

Adairsville, Georgia

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  He (the one who "always looked for the best in others") is in the yard with his dogs. Cows are at pasture. But, where is the barn? Where will the cows be milked? Eastview Cemetery. [2013]

Chrisman, Illinois

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  That's a picture-perfect farmstead with picture perfect barns and a picture perfect driveway. Where is it located? In the heart of the corn belt. In fact, space for the farm seems to be carved out of the corn fields. Woodland Cemetery. [2014]

Odebolt, Iowa

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  His was a prosperous farmstead. You can tell by the number of barns and all the cribs and silos. That means he must have grown something of great value: Cracker Jacks! Well, not exactly, but here was grown most of the popcorn used to make it. Odebolt was the popcorn capital of America. The fields were in Iowa; the factories were in Chicago, and the railroad linked the two. Odebolt Cemetery. [2019]

Thomasville, Pennsylvania

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  Welcome to Paradise. That is the name of the churchyard where they are buried. That is also probably what they considered their farm. And, that is where at least one of them (and maybe two by this time) is right now. One thing is for sure: The farm is absent of people, so something must have happened. Paradise Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery. [2014]

Fennimore, Wisconsin

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  This family is going nowhere. They are straying on their farm forever. How do we know that? There they are with their tractors: mom, dad, and the three kids. What is that on the other side of the road? Must be "God's Green Acre." Prairie Cemetery. [2019]

Atlantic, Iowa

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  The farmers here (see them?) have achieved immortality (no you don't!). But, their sheep remain behind. How do we know they have risen into the heavens? Because their last name means "immortality," from the Greek ambrotos.  What are they eating in their new digs? Not lamb or mutton, but ambrosia. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery. [2008]

Hummelstown, Pennsylvania

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  What constitutes a farmstead? Barn, house, and outbuildings. If you grew up on one, your farm was your castle. It was probably more like heaven than anywhere else on earth. This month, expect a tapestry of farmsteads, the places many Americans called home. Hanoverdale Church Cemetery. [2019]