Part 1, Hopkinton Summerfest Antique Tractor Pull

The Hopkinton Summerfest brochure said the tractor pull was at 9:00 on Sunday. I thought this an oddly early starting time, but drove over anyway to see what was going on. I saw people gathering and lots of tractors, all them antique, and concluded that 9:00 was the time it all began, but it would be going on all through the day. And apparently, the antique tractors were first on the agenda:

I really don't know much about tractors and don't have much to say, so I won't make many comments. I will say, though, that this first tractor was not an antique but part of the maintenance equipment for grooming the pulling surface:

There were lots of antique tractors and friendly folks chatting:

Hopkinton Summerfest Parade, Part 2

The Hopkinton Summerfest parade was marching down the highway on a cloudy day. Nearby Parishville sent a contingent of ATV riders from their local club:

And there were lots of antique tractors:

And giant tractors pulling wagons filled with hay, children and calves:

Nearby North Lawrence sent some fire trucks to the parade:

And there were several antique cars:

Lots of color and happiness - and all the marchers threw candy to the crowd along the highway:

And a miniature car. How this man and two children fit inside, I couldn't tell you:

The local Catholic church had a float:

And Lawrenceville sent a fire truck or two:

And so did Dickinson:

The final entry in the parade was this pink fire truck supporting breast cancer research. By then it was threatening to rain, so I began walking back toward my car:

But I had to stop and take a photo when I saw this woman and her beloved pooch. There'd also been a Jack Russell puppy I'd taken pictures of but, true to the breed, he'd been so active that none of the photos were usable. But I was near my car by then and began driving home. There were lots more activities which were part of Summerfest, but the parade was all I attended on Saturday:

Hopkinton Summerfest Parade, Part 1

The town of Hopkinton has a weekend Summerfest every year but I've only seen the tractor pull in previous years. This year I also wanted to see the parade, so I drove to the town green on Saturday morning:

And positioned myself along the highway to watch the parade go by:

The Hopkinton Historical Society was one of the early groups to pass by:

And my neighbors were part of the Historical Society, marching with their three children, two in a wagon and one pedaling a toy tractor:

There's the tractor and Dad, following behind and tossing candy to the children watching the parade:

The Hopkinton and Fort Jackson Fire Department:

And firemen:

And fire trucks:

And Deer Valley Trails, a restaurant and bar deep in the forest on Blue Mountain Road, sponsored a host of marching superheroes:

I've never been big on superheroes, but I recognized Batman and Catwoman:

And lots of antique tractors:

Big trucks and colorful balloons - and American flags were everywhere. But there was a lot more, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A New Member Of The Family

I traveled down to Frontier Town, site of many previous blog posts, to pick up a new dog. PeeWee was an elderly Papillon mix with limited hearing and eyesight who had been surrendered for adoption by his family because of a divorce. And if that wasn't sad enough, he'd been attacked by a big dog and nearly killed, his neck now all sutured up like Frankenstein. How could I say no? So I met his foster family at Frontier Town. We let all the dogs sniff each other and then headed off on a walking tour of the old log village:

They clearly had come to love little PeeWee and were sad to see him go while also happy that he was going to a good home:

My dogs gave PeeWee a quick sniffing and then just simply admitted him to the family. After that, we all explored the old log village as if we'd always been together:

PeeWee was surprisingly spry for an old timer, and often led the procession:

We explored the forest and looked inside several of the old buildings. That's PeeWee, by the way, just ahead of Seamus and nose to nose with Clover. PeeWee and Clover look so much alike that sometimes I have to do a double take to know which is which:

We all walked over to explore the old storefronts. PeeWee once again led the way:

And then we walked farther back to see the old rodeo arena and stables:

PeeWee was a determined little dog, chugging along as if he was young and had never been attacked. I thought to myself, "This little guy has heart:"

We explored the old storefronts for a bit, including the old saloon where we discovered that the piano was still playable:

And PeeWee kept chugging along:

But soon it was time for his foster family to say goodbye to PeeWee and we all got back into our cars:

I had a long drive back to the farm and all four Papillons squeezed together on the front seat. PeeWee seemed kind of crushed against the back of the seat, but I think he liked the security of it. He seemed happy jammed in there where he wouldn't bounce around. So now there's a new dog in the family and he will appear, from time to time, in future blog posts:

A Return To Hays Brook, Part 2

The dogs and I were on our way to pick up a new pooch, and on the way had stopped at Hays Brook. We left the trail and had been climbing slowly up a hill toward a crest which I could see through the trees:

We arrived at the top, a knife-edged ridge which dropped off steeply on both sides. I wondered what process had created this geological oddity, but they're really not all that odd. I see quite a few of them. As for the view from the top, it was all forest in every direction:

Madeline romped through the forest on an emerald carpet of moss:

Clover ran every which way but always kept an eye on me:

I managed to get Fergus, Daphne and Madeline to hold still long enough for a photo, but Fergus didn't look any too happy about it, did he?:

The "Silly Sisters" weren't acting silly this time:

Daphne paused momentarily atop a bed of mosses, Reindeer Lichens and Lowbush Blueberries:

And Madeline came over to join her:

Big brown mushrooms sprouted all along the trail and in the moss/lichen beds:

But we still had a long drive ahead of us, so I gave a call and we all began moving back toward our car:

This is one of the prettiest forests and the dogs seemed to enjoy it also:

One last photo of Clover and we were on our way to pick up a new Papillon. But I'll post about that tomorrow: