Friday, August 6, 2010

Photo-Finish Friday --Cigars on the Hoof Edition

A Cuban farmer attends to his tobacco just outside of Vinales.

15 comments:

David Barber said...

Very nice photo, Leah. You certainly get out and about a lot. Love your header photos as well.

Have a great weekend.

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks, and thanks. David. There's so much to see in the world. Hope your weekend is stellar.

the Bag Lady said...

Cool photo, cousin!

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks, df Bag Lady. Have good one.

Anonymous said...

I'd forgotten about Cuban cigars. So this is where they start? Very good photo.
Mary

Leah J. Utas said...

Yes, this is it. Thanks, Mary.

Reb said...

Great photo Leah. Have a good weekend.

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks, Reb. You, too.

messymimi said...

The first cigar Sweetie and I shared was a Cuban. They are wonderful (and I'm a non-smoker, with the exception of the dozen or so cigars we have shared over 25 years).

Thanks for bringing back the memories.

Virginia Lee said...

I'm a native North Carolinian and my earliest memories involve driving past tobacco fields and smelling cured tobacco in downtown Durham in the humongous warehouses where they did the auctions. In kindergarten we went to a tobacco auction and we each were given a tobacco leaf to bring home. My mother refused to allow me to bring it into the car. If I let myself, I might could get mad at her all over again about that. :)

As late as the early '80s I knew people who would make money in the summers by picking tobacco on family-owned farms. No matter how hot it would get, they'd have to wear long sleeves and pants and gloves to protect themselves from the nicotine in the leaves.

Dang, Leah. Now I'm homesick again!

Cheryl Kohan said...

Wow, that's some HUGE tobacco! A great shot plus I learned something, today...thanks!

Leah J. Utas said...

Messymimi, as long as the memories are good.

Virginia Lee, it really was a different world back then. I can't imagine a school trip to a tobacco farm today nor getting a free leaf. Kind of sad, really. Sorry about the homesickness.

CherylK, the leaves are big. I watched as one was rolled into a fine cigar. Thanks.

solarity said...

The leaves are tiny! The plants don't come up to his shoulder and the leaves he's stuck don't hang down farther than his knees!
Virginia Lee, when I moved to Raleigh I was amazed to discover that "long-leaf" tobacco was a smaller plant than "burley." It sounds as though it should be bigger. Most of the tobacco grown in Kentucky is burley, and mostly the plants grow higher than my head (I'm 5'6") and when the workers are bending over you can't see them unless you're looking along the row.
Some people are still growing tobacco here, but most took the buy-out and quit during the past ten years. Tobacco was what made small family farms possible here for years after most of the country was get-big-or-get-out.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

Dawn said...

Haven't popped in for awhile and I too noticed your header. Very nice. Is it where you live? If so, expect me on your doorstep before breakfast!

Leah J. Utas said...

Mary Anne, thanks for the first-hand tobacco facts. Most interesting.


Dawn, the scene is about a 90 minute drive west of here toward the Rockies, plus a bit of a hike. On this occasion we went in on horseback.
And what do you take in your coffee?