There's a Community of Virtual Photographers Inspired by the Famous Haystack of Walsh County, a Second Life Sim Inspired by Walsh County, ND

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

After seeing Pedro’s haystack in “Walsh County” and recognizing it as THE HAYSTACK [See stories One, Two, and Three] I thought it might be fun to collect some more pictures of the famous haystack of Walsh County. I looked for the Flickr group devoted to it, with hundreds of haystack photos, and noticed that the sim was inspired by Walsh County, ND.

I know Walsh County. I lived there for four months when my sister was paralyzed by a spider bite from a brown recluse. I left fifth grade about a month early to go to their farm and take care of her, the kids, and the housekeeping. No wonder these images speak to me. I love Pedro’s picture because it catches the field when flax is in bloom. It’s such a beautiful sight to see these pale blue blankets of flowers extending for acres in all directions. 

For more haystacks, click here:

“Into the Great Wide Open” by Dreams is a beautiful picture of the field in winter. You can feel the chill in the air. Blue is a cold color and her use of blue really suggests the frigid temperature. You will note that for such a cold place as North Dakota, there isn’t a lot of snow on the ground. That’s because when the winds come, they carry the snow to Minnesota across the flat land of the Red River Valley until the wind hits the Northwoods where I come from and there it drops it all. Lots of it. And if the wind is really hard, it picks up some of that beautiful loose topsoil and it mixes with the dirt and then we would get black snow. We called it snirt.

Mr. Badass’ “Walsh County” was the pic that sent me on this little detour. I like the choice of monochrome, an aged black and white. The stark and lonely landscape really calls out for black and white to reveal its undulating forms. Without the distraction of color, we can often see more than we saw before. 

Now, if you want to take pictures of that haybale, here’s a teleport link. [Click here] but be careful in the spring, that topsoil may be the most fertile soil in the world, but it can be a quagmire when it’s saturated with rain and snowmelt. 

See all of Cajsa's Choices here. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter, on her blog, and on her Ko-Fi.

Comments

[Randonee Noel]

I didn't know that our haybale was famous!! I just hope that people sit or climb on it and take in the view.... Snow is on the way... so dress accordingly! Thanks again for this lovely post! Rando