Rural Moira And Bangor, New York - Part 1

Once again I was driving to Malone and decided to detour onto some Franklin County roads for a photo tour of rural scenery. I began in the little town of Moira, New York:

There were some lovely old Victorian homes and older, plainer homes as well. I had just about decided to limit my photo tour to the village itself when a state trooper pulled off the road and just sat there. I suspected that he'd seen me pulling off the road, then back on again, then off again - and thought I was acting suspiciously. So I put away my camera and continued on into the countryside, turning onto the first crossroad. I didn't want to have to explain myself to a suspicious trooper:

The farms were fewer than I'd expected and the bright morning sun was ruining many shots, so I had to drive multiple roads. I lost track of which road I was on (many weren't marked anyway), so I'll just say that I began in Moira and ended in the town of Bangor. This was a typical farm:

This old farm had multiple barns and, it appeared, many acres:

A smaller operation, perhaps a hobby farm(?):

 I pulled to the side of the road to photograph a herd of dairy cattle. One of them, the cow in the background, walked over to the fence to say hello. The sun ruined the photo, though, and I was just about to drive away when this donkey ambled over to say hello. All the donkeys I have met have been wonderfully friendly, sociable souls:

A lovely old farm house behind three maple trees:

A traditional farm house but a brand new, modern barn and silos:

A modern barn attached to some older structures:

A very old, traditional small barn:

A triple garage plus a barn which was labelled "The Barn." I wondered if perhaps it was used for dances or parties or other events:

A small, old structure with a hay loft door. It looked like they had been cleaning out the accumulated stuff in the old hay loft. But I had more rural sights to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Wagner Road In Moira, New York - Part 1

It was a dark and stormy night..........Well, actually it wasn't night and it wasn't stormy but it was rather dark, with rain predicted. I was on my to Malone to do some shopping and decided to turn onto rural Wagner Road in Moira, a town in Franklin County, New York. My first photo was of this old red barn, though I now wish I'd have included more of the house (on the left) also:

An old livestock or equipment shed, with a jumble of unused fences and gates:

Wagner Road had an abundance of horses, but none so beautifully colored as this herd. That little animal in the rear left was a black donkey:

Two old concrete silos, the barn long gone and the tipped power pole leading to nowhere:

A steel sided barn, probably once state-of-the-art but apparently not in use any longer:

These connected barns, all painted blue, appeared to be in active use but I couldn't tell what they were used for:

Modern, well kept barns, but no signs of livestock:

This appeared to be an old barn, but it was in perfect shape. The big hay bales behind it hinted that it might be used for hay storage:

And speaking of hay, this hay field was still dotted with round bales. I hope they will be brought to an accessible area before the snow covers everything:

I almost drove past this tiny shed but was stopped in my tracks by the fruit laden apple tree. I backed down the road to get a photo of it because I considered it a beautiful scene. But there was more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Hopkinton, New York Summer Parade-Part 2

I was watching the Hopkinton Summer Parade (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and snapping photos as the paraders went by. This lady drove a beautifully restored antique Farmall tractor:

Nearly all the paraders threw candy to the kids, but because the route was so short, their candy stash so large and the children so few, they were throwing out double handfuls of candy. These kids had collected at least half of what had been thrown so far by the time I snapped this photo:

Step back in time, visit the Hopkinton Museum. I didn't recognize the driver until he waved. Then I recognized him as my nearest neighbor:

The local Girl Scout troop:

A local rust control business. I liked this photo because of the happy kids and dogs in the back of the truck:

An antique car:

And a pink firetruck. I've seen this at other parades and now recognize it as a tribute to breast cancer awareness. This time, however, I noticed that there were handwritten messages all over it:

The horse riders came next. The woman on the white horse is my neighbor who led a donkey in the parade the previous week for suicide prevention awareness:

And then, right behind the horses, was her son with the same donkey:

My neighbor and one of her boys, riding Abilene, the pony:

And her mom, Grandma, the owner of the local feed store, with the other two boys in the family:

I only kept a few of the many firetruck photos I took. This one was from nearby North Lawrence, New York and I thought it would be a fitting way to end this post on the parade:

Tri-Town Summer Festival Parade - Part 2

I was in the tiny settlement of Brasher Falls, watching the Tri-Town Summer Festival Parade (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). The three towns, which in New York are what are called townships elsewhere, are Brasher, Stockholm and Lawrence. They are all so rural that they band together for many things. This float featured live Country/Western music:

And a bus featuring the reunion of the class of 1982:

This float was entered by the Lawrenceville Baptist Church. It is common for local churches to put floats in parades, so I saw nothing odd until I got home and took a closer look at the photo. Then I began wondering about the pillory, the stone dungeon walls and the word "poultry." What that had to do with the church building a better future for God's children, I don't know:

I thought these were Smurfs, but I looked them up when I got home and learned that all Smurfs are blue and wear white domed hats. Whatever they were, they were cute:

This woman, a nearby neighbor of mine, was leading one of her donkeys with a Suicide Awareness message. Her daughter committed suicide and I'm glad that she is involved with helping others:

Another of the many firetrucks:

I wondered about the folded hoses on this firetruck, what the three different colors meant:

A tanker truck. I've seen them filling up at the St. Regis River near the feed store:

A fascinating but enigmatic float with a live donkey and two dogs. A business card which I was handed explained that this was "The Equestrian Sport Training Center" in Winthrop, NY. As to the meaning of the canoe, chainsaw, pine tree, cedar fence, etc. - the theme of the parade was "Wild And Woolly." This was my favorite float. Not only were they creative, but I almost understood it:

And old fashioned horse and buckboard:

At the end of the parade were folks on horseback, with a state trooper bringing up the rear. I thought it wise that they put the horses last, so the other paraders wouldn't be stepping in horse manure. It was a decidedly small town parade, which is why I so enjoy it each year. The people are friendly and the scenery is first rate:

South Woods Road, From Dickinson NY To Brushton NY

I had just taken a driving tour of Franklin County Route 7, a rural road which took me from the town of Brushton to the town of Dickinson (yesterday's post), but the day was still young so I turned north on the South Woods Road, the next road parallel to Route 7, and continued my tour. I realized I'd been here before when I passed Tower Sugar House. I'd stopped here several years ago when they had an open house:

I stopped and looked at this abandoned building, trying to decide if it had been a barn, garage, home or combination. There were no other buildings adjacent to it. Whatever it had once been, it was now a soon to disappear piece of American history:

I passed by this adorable mailbox and had to stop and back up to get its photo. This is easily the best rural mailbox I've ever seen:

This old barn had been kept up nicely and I took note of the grindstone and milk cans with which it was decorated:

A very large, old farm house:

And an exquisite barn with a wooden silo:

A woodsy type home, set back in the trees:

A large home with a magnificent porch:

And out behind the home in the above photo were these outbuildings and a huge pile of firewood. Notice the Tree Gnome face on the maple trunk:

And here's a closeup of the octagon(?) building in the above photo. It appears to be a sugar house for boiling down maple syrup, and the extensive firewood is more evidence to support that theory:

I drove right by these critters and, once again, had to stop and back up to get a photo. Two ponies and two donkeys in a woodland corral:

I was almost back to Brushton and the end of South Woods Road when I stopped to photograph this old cabin. I marveled at the small and simple homes in which our predecessors lived. I am glad that these old, abandoned homes still exist and wish they could be preserved for posterity. But this marked the end of my driving tour. I put my camera away and concentrated on getting to the feed store. I needed more grain for the cattle: