I Live in Paradise!

During the fall, the scenery here was so captivating, I couldn't stop taking pictures. I kept my camera in my purse or on the passenger seat so I'd always be ready. One time I saw a great shot, but there were power lines in the way.  It was a busy road, and there was only one spot to pull over.  I kept walking farther from the car to get the perfect shot, and when I got back, poor Maggie was upset.  After that, whenever we were driving and I saw lovely scenery, I'd exclaim, "Look at that!" and Maggie would quickly respond, "But let's not take a picture!"

It's not that I consider myself a great photographer.  I can only imagine what my sisters-in-law could do with these scenes.  It's just that I felt compelled to record everything I saw so that I could remember.  And now that we're in the middle of winter, I am glad I have these to look at.  (Winter scenery is only fleetingly beautiful to me: only after a snowfall when there is snow on tree branches.  But the plows come and everything gets dirty quickly.)

This is a pretty tree we saw on the way home from school.  We took a little detour, because our dirt road was too muddy.  A woman drove by and yelled, "Beautiful!" as I was taking some shots.  

This is the view from my front porch, zoomed in a little.  That is my neighbors' driveway entrance.  They lost one of the big trees by the driveway not long after, and now we can see more of their garage through there, which is sad.  

This is my view in the backyard, zoomed way in.  There's a lot of yard before you get to our trees.  

This is the view to the left as you walk to the mailbox.  The hill crests here and goes down beyond the grass.  (Our yard ends with the small pine trees in the foreground.)  There are houses just beyond what we can see here, but we rarely drive that direction, so I forget they're there.

This is essentially the same view, just walking a little farther and including the road that goes in front of our house.

If you do drive that way, you come to this little cemetery.  I wonder if it's a family site.

This is the way I always drive.  For about a mile and a half, there are no homes - just a corridor of trees along a dirt road.

Another view on our road.

At the end of that stretch of road, there is a little farm and then these trees.

More of that view as we round the bend.  There is often fog around here in the mornings.  But not in the winter.  I miss that.

This is also taken on our dirt road.  There is a spot near the top where the trees aren't right next to the road.  

This is a farm near Spencer, a town on the way to Ithaca.

This is another road near us that I just found while exploring.

This is an economically depressed area.  Most of the homes are not beautiful.  It reminds me a bit of Young Ward in Cache Valley.  There are a few nice homes mixed in with small, old dilapidated homes.  But when spring comes with buds on the trees and wild flowers lining many roads, the whole area is transformed into a gorgeous place - and it gets even better in the Fall.  A drive in any direction from town is a scenic wonder.  I am so blessed to be here!