Arts & Crafts--Highwaymen Robert Butler "Farmers Harvest":

Farmers' Harvest Tucked away beneath a sprawling oak beside the roadway of memory, images of the farmers’ market invades our past with all the subtlety of a freight train. In the day of American adolescence, this form of agri-commerce played a vital role in American progress. Whether commercially grown or family farm, American farmers pushed the leading edge of agri-development and sustained a nation and its allies. The roadside farmers’ market was America’s agri-address of the past. At the approach of the new millennium, science and technology have cast the American farmer into the role of world provider. Success has been no less than spectacular. But somewhere deep in the heart of the American countryside, you can still find the spirit that takes you back. Next time you are traveling the back roads, stop and have a glass of lemonade from the stand by the roadside. The kid who owns it may charge you more than 5 cents a glass and give you a computerized receipt. But, it’s the memories that are priceless. Remember, you’ve changed too. To the kid, just say "thanks for the memories." © Robert Butler 1999