Films & Farms

November 3, 2019 Trina Harger

Howdy!

Hope you are enjoying the week so far. I am soaking up this crisp, fall weather while enjoying hot cups of coffee, piling blankets, eating s’mores around the fire pit, and slowing down a little bit before the holidays are in full swing.

[ Here’s a picture of my Uncle Tim all bundled up, holding a piece of cheese when he was a young tyke…probably getting into some kind of mischief. Some things never change. :) ]

[ A young deer keeping warm during the cold weather. ]

A few weeks ago I traveled to Austin Texas for the world film premiere of Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait. Being in Texas reminded me of those classic Western movies featuring John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. The smells of leather, sounds of spurs spinning on cowboy boots, and seeing Stetson cowboy hats of all different styles made that nostalgia feel even stronger in Texas than in my every day midwestern surroundings. The film also compelled me to reminisce on the days when I would visit my grandma in South Dakota. Her “Little Home on the Prairie” was a place where the cows roamed, the cats lingered in the barn, and the China was always on the table, ready for tea time. Open skies have been a constant part of my environment growing up and the wide landscapes in this film felt a lot like home.

Here’s a video of a lasso king from the 1920s - one of the many inspirations for the film. Guarantee it will blow you away! If you can’t watch it for some reason, just Google “The Ropin’ Fool, Will Rogers.”

A 1922 silent short film starring (and written by) Will Rogers, in which he shows off many of the rope tricks that made him a vaudeville star with the Ziegfeld Follies from 1916 to 1925. There is a minimal plot, involving a love interest and a rival, but it is only a device to get as many lariat tricks as possible into the 20-minute movie.

Other than films and farms, I got to travel again, which is a love that is deeply engrained in my family’s DNA. I’ve discovered this while looking through family photos over the past few years, with some photos dating as far back as the 1940s to Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. Traveling must be in the blood I guess! I literally thanked my mom for helping coordinate the trip to Austin, Texas and her response? “I’ll thank your dad because you know I love doing this.” Hahahaha

Till next time,

Trina