The introductory part of this article (written in italics) has no sound recording.

"Mind's Eye" is a series of articles and monologues that ask you to imagine a scene or a physical object in your mind, using your brain's ability to visualize things, sometimes called your "mind's eye." Articles in this series contain few if any footnotes except in this introduction, because we always show you the actual picture being described, and anything you don't understand will probably become clear after you see the picture.

Before you start this article, you might want to grab a pencil and paper, and you might want to think about whether you want to read the article first or listen to it first. Listening might seem to be more challenging but is probably easier, because you won't have to burden the visual part of your brain with the reading task as well as the visualization task.

In this article the writer will describe a photograph to you. A link to the actual photo is provided at the end of the article. Please don't click the photo link yet. First, read or listen to the description, and try to visualize the scene in your mind's eye. If you have a pencil and paper handy, you can "take notes" by trying to sketch the scene as the writer describes it.

When you think you have a good idea of what the picture looks like, click the link and find out how well you did. Notice especially the differences between your sketch (or your mental picture) and what you actually see in the photo. The differences may come from your own misunderstandings, or they may come from weaknesses in the writer's description. In either case, the comparison will be enlightening. Have fun.

The Flying Tractor

This is a picture of a farm. The land is flat, and there is snow on the ground. The sky is clear and blue. It appears to be a sunny day, since the various elements in the picture are casting shadows on the ground.

In the foreground stands a wire fence, with the pattern of the wire creating long rectangles. Only one fencepost can be seen, at the lower left of the picture.

On the left edge of the picture stands a barn with a long slanted roof, but it is cropped so that less than half of it enters the scene. Moreover, a small tree rises directly in front of it, further obscuring the view of this building.

In fact, there are a number of trees, all of them evergreens with long, thin trunks and droopy branches. There are two larger trees in the background, both in the middle of the image, but one towards the left and the other towards the right. The tops of both trees extend beyond the frame of the picture.

A much smaller tree appears between the two larger trees, and three smaller trees stand on the right side of the picture.

In the lower right, a cow stands in profile, its head facing towards the right. The cow is brown, with a white head and a white patch on its belly.

What makes this picture unusual is the feature displayed prominently in the center of the image. At the top of a black metal post, twice as tall as the cow, rests an orange tractor. The simple, old-fashioned tractor is the size of a small car and has four black tires. The two front tires are small, with smooth tread, while the back two tires are large and have jagged-liked tread.

The body of the tractor consists only of the front, boxy casing that houses the engine, a simple steering wheel, and a seat. On top of the front casing rises a silver-colored pole that once served as the tractor's exhaust pipe. Now, at the blackened tip of this pipe, a small egg-shaped object has been affixed. The bottom and top of the object are red, and the middle is made of plastic or glass.

Perhaps the tractor has been hoisted into the air to offer this small object to wild birds on the farm. Perhaps this small object, along with the tractor itself, is a bird feeder!

How did you do? Click here to find out.