Author: danrouth

Greensboro, NC based commercial and editorial photographer.

Burley Tobacco Farmer

Agriculture, Farm, Tobacco


Neighbor Gary McMasters along with daughter Elizabeth and another neighbor Jerry Ferguson gathered and sticked burley tobacco this past weekend in Grays Chapel, North Carolina in preparation to moving it to a drying barn. Unlike flu-cured tobacco where leaves are removed as they ripen up the stalk, burley is harvested by cutting the whole plant, and it is air dried rather than being cured by heat. Gary raises about 1 1/2 acres and does pretty much everything by hand. Traditionally, burley tobacco was grown in the mountains of North Carolina and flue-cured in the Piedmont. New varieties have made it possible to grow burley in warmer areas.

Gary lives on land that has been in his family for several generations in Randolph County and besides farming tobacco and other crops, he runs a small custom saw mill and raises horses and mules. He produces sorghum molasses every year on a mule driven cane mill.


(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

The Egret, a Poem by Devin Routh

Animals, Farm, Poetry

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

The Egret

With stilt-like legs he wanders through the water’s edge
content to watch the fish below him, not to hunt
but listen to the bullfrogs’ croaking in the sedge
first loud then low, for he himself is transient.
He comes and goes with all the seasons and the winds
from sandy creeks where crawdads make their rocky homes
to miry ponds where ivory feathers hardly blend;
despite the mud he stays unsoiled while he roams.
And if a feather falls it’s full of blemishes
in little time; it loses all its pristine shine
as if it never shone before and proves that his
persistent sojourning has kept him in his prime.
To see an egret flap his wings and fly away
is to discover why he never cares to stay.

(Poetry copyright 2010 by Devin Routh. Used with permission.)

Guitar Repairman

Music, Portraits, Still Life


Grays Chapel neighbor Gerald Hampton plays mandolin on the weekends with the band Molasses Creek, but during the week he spends his time building guitars and repairing guitars, mandolins and the occasional fiddle like the one shown below. Gerald said it was found inside a wall of an old South Carolina house and he describes it as a “project”.





(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Molasses Creek

Music, Portraits


I went by an afternoon concert in High Point on Sunday and heard neighbor and Grays Chapel native Gerald Hampton play his mandolin with the band Molasses Creek. A hot evening produced some hot music. Along with Gerald, Gary Mitchell, Dave Tweedie, Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro (all four from Ocracoke Island), produce tight instrumentals and smooth vocals. Their repertoire goes from Bob Wills tunes to Peter Paul and Mary to original work with Cape Breton style fiddle. It goes from the Ink Spots to Dolly Parton and to traditional bluegrass with the addition of world class banjo picker, Stan Brown from Coleridge. For more info and to hear the band, go to http://www.molassescreek.com.







(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Zimmerman Vineyards

Agriculture, Wine


I stopped by Zimmerman Vineyards this past weekend. Norman and Leslie Zimmerman run Randolph County’s first and only winery. They produce a variety of very fine red and white wines on their property near the Uwharrie River. Norman is passionate about his grapes and his wine. You can purchase wine on site and they have a tasting room. For more info, check their website at http://www.zimmermanvineyards.net/.