Within Ten Miles

Well Hello!
 

You may have been wondering where I've been...I guess it just didn't seem possible to spend time indoors this summer, and without a laptop, I fell behind on my blogging. And I missed you!
I last signed in to tell you that I was going on vacation to Colorado and New Mexico. I did and it was great to see my old favorite places and my old friends. I lived in Colorado between 1974 and 1994, and I just have to go there every few years to get a fix! I will have pictures for you all soon, but....

Right now, my favorite season is popping into New England, and I must drive and take pictures. Even after my travels, I find sooo much beauty here in Western Massachusetts! Today, I tried to work indoors, but the leaves kept blowing crisply back and forth in the driveway-seducing me outdoors. When the sun started slanting in from the west I took off. But I only drove around in a 10 mile radius.  My camera knows where to go and how I like the light to look through the leaves a certain way. Sometimes, breaking the rules about lighting and photography makes for some pretty good pictures. Others, not so good. But with digital, it's no problem to just trash the bad ones. You don't waste any film!

Every year at least once, I stop by this adorable little shop, Posies by Piper, on a local back road. She has something like 35 crafters contributing to her little pink shop named after her daughter. The quilts stopped me, but visiting with this sweet lady who is sitting outside knitting under an arbor of red vines is always a pleasant experience. She's so happy and doing what she loves!

From there I looped around and around the back roads looking for "that certain quality of light" that I remember so well from childhood at my cousin's farm. They had an old federal style home with meadows and huge maples. We'd go help them with the haying then have a picnic under the maples in the late afternoon sun. Those yellow and red leaves still leave dappled shadows in my heart.

Like most New Englanders, I can't resist a beautiful barn. Their structures are often Shaker-like in their simplicity. Some have been reworked to become homes or studios, others are regally standing, still--keeping the hay dry and the livestock warm.

 The cathedral-like buildings stand as a testament to the builders of days long gone.

My neighbors are enterprising people.  If they own property, even a truck, they may be able to make an income from it.  Not necessarily a living, but an income. Many work multiple jobs, most are two-income families. They still find time to make maple syrup, raise and butcher a couple of hogs, make furniture or do haying or short hauling for their neighbors.

So, as you can see, I don't have to go anywhere for some fantastic scenery. Driving around on a short leash keeps my restless heart happy. The local color can still titillate me...

and keep me goin' till I can head WEST again.  Where do you roam when you aren't going anywhere?

Happy Trails!
Sherry