Wide Open Spaces

Last weekend while visiting my parents, my dad decided that we would go into town to the farmers market so he could get some fresh produce. On the way, my dad said something about the market being open on Saturday. I said uh, dad, it's Friday! Oops. My dad thought it was Saturday. I don't blame him, he is retired so it must be more challenging to remember what day it is when you don't have a work week or weekends. I know that feeling now I am on my summer schedule. I often have no idea what day it is, either!

Since the farmer's market was in the same vicinity, my dad drove us up to see my Nana's grave site (my father's mother.) I have not been there since we buried her when I was a senior in high school. The cemetery is very nice. But the tree she is buried under, with her mother and her step dad, is nothing short of amazing.

So huge that my dad is holding it up. I kid, I kid! My papa has bad knees so the tree was probably holding him up.

Wow, what a resting place. It was special to visit it. My Nana was a writer and always encouraged me to write.

It's massive, almost deformed trunk was caused by many lightening strikes.

My parents are now living in the same town they grew up in. They've come full-circle. After we left the cemetery, my dad drove me the "old way" back to their house instead of taking the freeway. It was the way he and his buddies used to race muscle cars when they were teens. Uh-oh. Dad is divulging secrets from his childhood! It's okay. I already know most of them.

I know many of you live on ranches and farms that look like many of these properties, so this is probably typical, everyday scenery to you. Lucky ducks! But I loved this drive and of course I had to start taking pictures. I am sure my dad thinks I am a fruitcake for always having my camera. He is probably regretting that he and my mom got me that digital camera for Christmas. But he was kind enough to slow down or stop on parts of the road so that I could zoom and take a shot. If any of you saw a crazy Pony Girl hanging out the window of a red truck last Friday, taking pictures of your barn or pasture, I am sorry. Take it as a compliment.
Many of the following landscapes were severely flooded last fall after heavy rains. It has made them lush with green this spring. I have to tell you about my obsession for wide open spaces. Goodness I'm sorry, now that song by the Dixie Chicks will be stuck in your head all day. But really, lately I have been craving endless pastures of waving grasses, dotted with creeks and trees, filled with chirping crickets and little green frogs and.....well, let's skip the snakes and spiders, it's killing my imagery here. I can just imagine my future herds of horses and cattle grazing out there in all of that lushness. Lately, I have not been able to look at land like this without wanting to throw myself out there and bury myself in under the shade of one of those trees with a good book and my horse grazing nearby. Think I'm getting tired of the city? Hmmm.....

Love these rolls of hay. And the little line of trees standing all by their lonesome in the back.

If My Boy was turned out here, I'd never catch him again. Ever. Goodbye, my silly spotted pill.

I saw a lot of cows. And sheep. And alpacas. And even some buffalo. Very little horses along this route, though. I am guessing the fields might be too wet in the winter for horses.

And some really neat old buildings and barns. I did not get photos of them all because they were on my dad's side of the truck and goodness, it would have been a little absurd to ask him to stop and get out of the truck for a picture. Wait, wouldn't it? Seriously, I need to know!

This could be your barn?

This red barn shop was very interestingly placed. It was right off of a side road. And in the middle of a field, with no roads leading to it from any side. It looked as if it had been dropped down into the middle of the grass from the mother ship. Maybe it was some kind of undercover alien meeting place. Okay Pony Girl, you've been eating too many Bottle Caps! More likely, somebody built it and then left it. I wondered if there was anything inside? Why do I always wonder things like this?

Sad that it is apparently not being used. Maybe the mother ship could drop it down at my sister's place. They could use a barn like that at the Painted Creek!

This brick silo was very unique. It was in the middle of a pasture. Standing alone, too. We saw another one of these on our drive to the trail challenge, as well. I wonder what year these were built? They both had the white brick pattern at the top. If you know any interesting brick silo history to share, please enlighten us.

This photo shows acreage my family is eyeing for a future ranch. It would be a family compound, of sorts. They have been out to look at it several times. The concept is mostly in the imagination stage right now. But it is possible that within a year or two, it will be a reality. Then maybe, just maybe, this Pony Girl city dweller will live among the fields.