I've been rereading Rick Braggs books and he talks about his mother putting his baby brother on the sack as she pulled it picking cotten. I swear his family stories could be one of my family lines for sure and probably many others. The life of those not infused with money in the South for many generations after the war has never been easy. His family owned stills could have been my family stills. They seemed to have a common connection to try to outsmart the law. Not always successful though.
A couple of years ago we were returning from an out of town trip and were riding on the backroads in the north end of our county. The cotton was ready for picking and it was late at night and the moon was full. It looked like the world was covered in snow. It was so bright you could see the deer in the fields just like it was daylight. So many think cotton isn't being grown in the US anymore but all you have to do is ride I65 through Alabama to see it's still a big part of the planters income.

Pam