County Route 49, Winthrop New York - Part 2

I was making a driving tour of a short section of County Route 49 (see yesterday's post). It was a beautiful drive through the scenic rural landscape:

Although this was generally very flat land, I noticed that many homes were set up atop small rises and wondered if that was for better views or because of the nearby St. Regis River:

This was only a mile or so out of the village of Winthrop, not far from either Massena or Potsdam. I imagined that the local residents were folks who worked in town but loved rural living:

This home had a wonderful front porch on which I'd once seen a group of woman enjoying a sultry summer afternoon in the shade of those trees:

Besides farm land, there were patches of forest:

A home with a flag and double garage:

Another home with a double garage, but also a three stall, free standing garage:

RJ Firearms, probably a busy place in hunting season:

A carport and a little bridge for when the drainage ditch gushes with rainwater. But in spite of the big rainstorms the previous night, it contained no water when I passed by:

Just before I turned off onto the state highway, I stopped to snap a photo of this well cared for home with its classic red barn. Though it is faster to stay on the state road, I often will detour by way of the county road just for the scenery:

Pastoral Poetry In Pictures

It often takes me a long time to get from one place to another here because I so often take winding back roads just to experience the rural beauty. In fact, sometimes I'm not going anywhere at all - I'm just driving around inhaling the exquisite loveliness. Beauty such as these colorful, curious ladies, for instance:

Wildflowers and corn:

Freshly baled hay ready to go to someone's barn for winter feeding:

Haying equipment at rest in a field:

An old barn and what looked like an old, abandoned house, both of them gradually being swallowed up by the encroaching woodlands:

A new modular home next to the older, abandoned home - a small outbuilding next to twin silos:

A wonderful wrap-around porch and a nicely updated barn:

Another old, abandoned barn and twin silos:

The corner of someone's pasture:

Acres and acres and acres of hay:

An old family farm seen through a latticework of young trees:

This old tractor and stock trailer are no longer functional. They are parked permanently as a home for the pigs:

A field of horses, both full size and miniature:

The Glories Of Summer In Farm Country, Part 1

I drove to the Post Office the other day and was so overwhelmed by the summer rural beauty I passed along the way that I decided I must take some photos. So as soon as I got home, I grabbed my camera, loaded the dogs into the car and took off to drive once more to the Post Office and back. This first shot was of the wildflowers and grasses surrounding my own north hay field:

And Daphne watched the neighbors' hay fields and distant woods with rapt attention as they passed by her car window:

More hay fields and farm silos:

Giant, round hay bales:

An old trailer and boat, parked at the edge of a woodland:

Horses and sheep aplenty:

A truck and a contented, grazing horse beside a big red barn:

Layered textures: Grasses, trees and corn fields with more woods in the background:

Giant corn fields and giant silos:

Farm equipment parked in a field, ready for use:

A neighbor's pond:

And a classic red barn. But I hadn't even reached the Post Office yet. I'll publish Part 2 of this summer series tomorrow:

Pierrepont, New York (And West Pierrepont)

We'd arrived up at the farm on a Sunday afternoon. I had no plans for Monday, but given the predicted weather of blue skies and unseasonably warm temperatures, I knew that I wanted to go hiking. So I drove southwest toward the Wolf Lake loop trail. As I passed through the tiny town of Pierrepont, I decided to take some photos:

This is about as rural a "town" as one can find anywhere, with no real business district that I could find. Just country homes, barns, silos and fields:

Lovely old barns and horse sheds:

Lots of people appeared to be home and I couldn't understand why until I realized that it was Veteran's Day and many were off of work:

The very finest of country living:

It was early in the morning and the sun was still quite low, making many photos challenging:

But the overall look of the town was friendly, countrified and comfortable:

With big old trees and front porches from which to watch the neighbors pass by:

Pierrepont was so very rural and sparsely settled that I laughed out loud when I passed a sign saying I'd entered West Pierrepont. I don't now remember where one village ended and the other began:

In the early morning light:

I thought this old barn was just about the prettiest thing I'd seen in a long time. But then I'm a sucker for old barns:

This house had the look of an old general store or feed store and I also liked its brook stone foundation. But this was all the time I had for dillydallying in Pierrepont and continued on my way toward the next town, Russell:

Back Roads Tour, Part 2

Daphne and I were driving around the rural roads, mostly between my farm and Potsdam, New York. The scenery was classic All-American farmland and this place is certainly a case in point:

And white churches dot the landscape everywhere. This part of the country is not a fundamentalist stronghold and most of these old church buildings house small traditional Protestant congregations. There's some modern church buildings also, but they're not particularly photogenic so I left them alone:

This house and barns placed on flat farm land would be perfectly at home anywhere in the local area:

A comfortable rural family home:

I saw four donkeys alongside the road and stopped to get their photo. The first two pretty much ignored me:

One donkey of the second pair seemed to be friendlier. I also took note of their collapsed barn and wondered where they stayed in the winter:

Many old farmsteads have a trailer or two or three parked nearby. These are probably for sons or daughters who work in the area but can't afford to buy a home and land of their own:

Hay fields up there are huge. I'm not very good at estimating acreage, but I'd venture to say that hundred acre fields are quite common:

This rural home was right up close to the road, all the better for keeping the driveway free of snow:

A pile of logs and a vintage tractor parked in an emerald hay field:

This giant old barn is much like mine. I stopped and snapped its photo and then continued on my way. I've got lots more pictures of local scenery to post and will present more to you tomorrow: