Settling In For The Evening

The dogs and I had settled in at the farm apartment, but I wanted to drive to the small town of Brasher Falls, New York to buy a few groceries at their new IGA, the closest thing to a grocery store nearer than Massena or Potsdam. To take a photo tour of Brasher Falls, click here. It's the home of the St. Lawrence Central Schools, named after the St. Lawrence Seaway and St. Lawrence County. I passed the school on my drive and noticed a large sign proudly proclaiming it to be the home of "The Larries." Not the Hurricanes, Tigers, Braves or Pumas, but The Larries. I wonder if their mascot is a nerdy guy with big glasses and a pocket protector?

I brought little Clover with me and began driving through the countryside, which consisted of both farms and forests. I saw a Raccoon up ahead and readied my camera. It began crossing the road, unconcerned about me and my car until I got closer. Then it got up on its hind legs and gave me an inquisitive look before bolting the rest of the way across the road. I only had a split second to hold my camera out the car window and snap this photo:

But I got my groceries and also indulged myself in what appeared to be a local specialty, dill pickle flavored potato chips. I don't normally eat potato chips, but I just had to give this odd flavor a try. They were good, though perhaps I just had denied myself junk food for so long that most any such thing would be scrumptious. Anyway, I arrived home (with dill pickle breath) and greeted all the dogs:

The weather was perfect and the dogs got to go back out and play in their fenced yard. We didn't do any hiking around the farm on this trip:

The tenants' dog has a dog house in the yard and my dogs thought it was very interesting:

As for me, I just enjoyed the sun and bird songs. On a clear and sunny day in June, upstate New York must surely be one of the most beautiful places on earth:

But I'd been up since very early that morning and driven a long way to get there. So as the sun began to set, I began to get very tired. So I set about cooking myself dinner. The woman from across the road knocked on my door to invite me to a sort of country block party and pig roast they were hosting on July 31st. I've since arranged to get the day off of work so that I can attend. It'll be a great opportunity to meet my neighbors:

All the dogs were happy to make themselves comfortable and begin settling in for the night:

Clover, of course, knows the best place to sleep is right next to Dad's head: