Rollag, Minnesota

This week’s challenge is “Change”. Kristin Snow ask us to show a change in progress. From the post, “to give a completely different form or appearance to; to transform.” You can read the entire challenge post here. I thought about several options, and at first I was going to go with the change in seasons… certainly appropriate since we have just passed an equinox. At the last minute, however, I decided to share a small number of photos from the gallery I plan to post for next week’s Travel Tuesday. In the opening image, two draft horses are harnessed and waiting at the hitching post to be led to their work assignment. Until the late-1800s, horses or oxen were given the task of assisting the farmer.

Once inventors harnessed the power of steam, the steam tractor provided a mechanized method of working the fields. Large and powerful, these engines could do the work of many horses.

Eventually, the steam engine gave way to the gasoline and diesel engine, but the basic shape and function of the tractor remains to this day. The images in this gallery were taken at the annual Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion. On the next Travel Tuesday, (September 29, 2015), you will be able to view a much larger gallery of images from the reunion. I will save the rest of the surprise until then.

John Steiner