Fresh air and a country drive....

I am a big fan..... 

*of drives in the country

 I take notice of the crops that never got harvested last fall

*of gravel roads

that run parallel with the power lines

* of old barns

red

white

 *of old houses

the kind I just want to go into and explore

*of cows

grazing in the near 60 degree weather

*of winding creeks

 Like the creek we played in as children at a friends a farm near Chatfield

 I grew up in the country near farm land but not on a farm. 

I joined 4-H, rode bareback on horses, and hiked in the nearby pasture 

watching my step so not to step in the "cow-pies"

I grew up playing at my grandma's farm near West Concord, 

and we had good friends near Chatfield who lived on a farm. 

Both of my parents were raised on a farm so I have heard many stories of farm life.

Short of actually living on a farm, I'm a true country girl and love everything about it.

As a parent and now grandparent I often think of those days and how our parents seems oblivious as to what us kids were up to. We ran free, hiding in the haymow, chasing the chickens and climbing my grandmas giant trees. No one seemed to be checking on us, after all the adults were having coffee in the old farmhouse with the tilted kitchen floor.

 What's left of my grandmas barn

Photo taken last summer 2018

 The silo and milk house are still standing

 I remember playing hide & seek in the dark at our friends farm, we were aware of the the electric fences, but one night I ran full steam ahead into a barbed-wire fence. I had to pull hard on my leg to get it off the barbs. I didn't want to go in to tell my mom because I was having too much fun, but I thought I better since I had blood running down my leg into my shoe. Mom washed my leg put a gauze over it and off I ran to play. I still have a significant scar on my left thigh from that night.

 I often smile to myself as I drive alone in the country,

 I just love what I see, there is a peace and a visual reminder of my childhood memories in the country and on the farm.