That Song In My Head
. . . and the rug that happened when it came out
Four Season Farm, 68" x 28", #8-cut wool strips on linen. Designed and hooked by Joan Strausbaugh, Biglerville, Pennsylvania, 2013.
They call them “ear worms,” those songs that get stuck in your head, playing over and over and over, driving you crazy. Not long ago, an old song (“You Plant Your Fields”) by the New Grass Revival got stuck in my head and the only way to exorcise it was to hook it.
The song tells the story of a farmer whose work goes on through the seasons, with a brief break in the winter, only to begin the cycle again by preparing for the coming spring. I was brought up on a farm and that imprint will be with me my whole life. I am grateful to those who work so hard to feed us all.
Living in apple country in South Central Pennsylvania is heaven—the beautifully ordered fields, with their lovely blooms every spring. I had hooked two versions of a local landmark, the round barn, when my neighbor Linda pulled me aside, looked me in the eyes and said, “Hey, we have a barn, too.” We both laughed, but looking in her eyes, I knew the McDannell farm was in my hooking future.
This article is from the November/December 2015 issue. For more information on our issue, check out our issue page.
