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Photograph your countryThere are few things that evoke emotion so quickly as a beautiful photograph. It might be a grinning child whose eyes show pure joy. It might be a setting sun behind a field of wheat waving in the evening breeze. Or it might be a thistle. My son has his camera in high gear in hopes of finding that perfect shot for his 4-H photography project. He has spent quite some time in our pasture, taking pictures of anything and everything. Last weekend he came home with a beautiful shot of a thistle. Or at least I thought it was beautiful. My husband didn't exactly agree. It isn't the really nasty musk thistle--although we've had our share of those and the challenges that come with ridding our pasture of them. But this variety isn't much better. It isn't as noxious, but certainly doesn't do anything to improve the diets of our grazing cattle. To me, it's a beautiful photograph. It shows off the spiky purple flowers against a background of green grass. To my husband, and probably most ranchers out there, it is just annoying. Thistles aren't what he considers beautiful. But it points out something that we should all already know: There's beauty all around us in the country. It is everywhere and we should stop and take notice. That's one of the reasons we began our Down Country Roads Photo Contest. We've been down those country roads and we know it is beautiful there. The photo contest is nearing its deadline of July 31. The theme of this year's contest is "The Country Life." In other words, show us what's beautiful to you in your life. The winning entries will be selected to appear on the Down Country Roads 2010 calendar, which will be available for purchase at the end of this year. The Grand Prize winner will take home $500 and there will be 12 $100 winners, as well as many $25 prizes. Click on the Down Country Roads Photo Contest button on www.hpj.com to see the photos that have already been entered. From there you can click on Official Rules to help guide you in selection of your entries. I can guarantee that my son's thistle photo won't win. There's this pesky rule about immediate family being ineligible. For the rest of you... the clock is ticking. Send in your photos and you just might find yourself $500 richer. Good luck! Holly Martin can be reached by phone at 620-227-1806, or by e-mail at hmartin@hpj.com.
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