Cloud Watching, Flights Of Fancy

There was a time when I was young and time was my friend. A summer day, a grassy field and soaring clouds were all I needed to transport my mind to imaginary worlds. Now I am old and again have time to watch the clouds. I looked for poems or quotes about clouds, but in the end decided to simply describe what my imagination saw in them. You will surely see something different, but the reward is in the looking.

Three beasts rising up above the trees, sitting on their haunches and looking toward the left - children's toy versions of (L to R) a Tyrannosaurus (with an eye!), a Crocodile and an Elephant:

 Alpine peaks with a gray cloud stuck on the pointed top of one of them:

 A chubby dog, sitting upright and begging for food:

 An arm emerged out of the blue sky, with its fist clenched, and soundly punched the cloud to the left:

 A mother cloud, giving birth to its second baby, the first baby already heading off to join the herd:

 You think that you can tell the size and shape of that cloud, but there is a hole in its center which leads the explorer upward and into a different dimension, a place which the earthbound observer can only dream about:

 Playful clouds, taking turns flinging each other out into the wondrous sky. The little cloud on the left has just been launched, giggling with glee, its little arms lifted up, and trailing bits of itself behind as it goes:

 A big mouthed cloud, jaws open wide, as a doctor cloud looks down its throat. Will the doctor pronounce it a case of the "Cumulus Cold?"

 From somewhere down in the trees, a white rocket ship of cloud has launched itself up into the sky, on its way to higher levels than the boring, unadventurous clouds might ever imagine:

 Sea creatures in the sky, and they each have a highly developed sense of humor. I can see the glee on their faces:

 Mount Ararat, rising up above the lands of eastern Turkey. I can see Noah's Ark, encapsulated in the ice near the summit. It appears only as a dark smudge because it is inside the ice and snow, but contained therein is a marvelous bit of Biblical history to marvel at:

 Clouds at the county fair, having fun and spinning cotton candy for their friends:

 A baby whale, chasing schools of krill through the ocean:

A Time of Glorious Dawns, Flowers, Cherries, Pasture

The Rugosa Roses continued to bloom, though not as profusely as they did in June:

 And the tree cherries continued to ripen. I grabbed one, always choosing one of the reddest, every time I walked near the tree:

 Red Clover grew tall and robust, blooming all over the pastures:

 The wild Elderberries growing in the old silo base burst into bloom:

 I wanted to spray the fence line of the south field, so I moved the cattle across the gravel road into the north field. They were reticent this time, giving me time to get the camera out of my pocket and snap a photo. Usually that is not possible as I am holding six heavy bowls of grain in one arm and moving backwards rapidly, ringing the cowbell with my other arm. This is the first time I managed to snap a photo of the process:

 I then moved the little horses across. Once in the north field, everyone ate their fill of grass and settled in for a nap:

 Remy comes running when I walk out into the field:

 Blue comes sometimes, but his main concern is eating. Just look at his teeth in this photo as he chomps on pasture grass:

 Summer sunrises are always pretty, but one morning they were especially dramatic. Rain was coming. This was the northeastern sky:

 The northwestern sky:

 Due north:

 And the southwestern sky. It looked almost Biblical. Cecil B. DeMille could have used it in a movie:

The Farm Country Of Edwards, New York

It had been a magnificent Monday up at the farm, beginning with hiking the Wolf Lake Loop Trail (see preceding posts). The dogs and I were tired and enjoying the air conditioned comfort of the car as we traveled the county roads back toward home. We'd driven through the small town of Edwards and I was particularly enamored of the lovely farm country we were encountering:

This flat land looked like it stretched on forever, which seemed odd as it was adjacent to the Adirondack mountains:

Big modern farms, old fashioned farms, this would be a fine place to live and raise cattle:

This was truly big sky country:

It appeared that hay was the primary crop here, providing me with glorious rural scenery:

This field was recently prepared for planting:

Here and there were small homes, apparently owned by folks who were not farmers themselves but loved living in such rural loveliness:

Silos lifted up into the big sky wherever I looked:

A hay field ready for cutting:

An old stone house. Was this built of the famous Potsdam Sandstone?:

And a large and modern high school. Apparently their children's education is a high priority here. I really loved this countryside tour. The next small town was Russell. I'll post about that tomorrow:

Back Roads Tour, Part 4

I was driving around the rural roads west of my farm with Daphne in the back of the car and enjoying seeing the sights and imagining how it will be to live there. I can certainly say it is scenic. I passed this old tractor parked in a field. This photo once again shows why I call it big sky country:

This barn set quite close to the road and was filled with sheep:

A comfortable and friendly log cabin, apparently home to a large family if the number of parked cars is any indication:

This older farm house is my favorite kind of subject for photos as it has so much character, derived from so many years of living:

And an even older farm house, this one apparently much like it was long ago:

A family farm with big sky and big hay fields. I noted that the house was plain and largely unimproved while the barns were more modern and spiffy:

As I've said before, the many branches of the St. Regis River snake and curl everywhere throughout the area and most roads cross some part of it, often multiple times. This hay field is bordered by the St. Regis River and you can see it more easily if you click to enlarge the photo:

And not far from that hay field, this road crossed the river. You can see how lovely and serene this countryside is, benefiting greatly by this ever present river:

Three barns all joined together, no doubt for ease of doing winter chores:

And this house had a nautical theme which I thought was odd until I remembered the ubiquitous St. Regis River, the Grasse River, The St. Lawrence River and the Raquette River, all flowing through the area:

And then I came to this friendly looking farm. Oh wait, that's my farm with the dogs waiting for me in my apartment. I'd made it home and it was time to settle in for the evening: