Changes Along a Country Road

Ever since we moved here I've been intrigued by the way the fields that we pass change from season to season. You never know when a field full of grass might fill with cows. A field of tall green corn turns into a field of parched brown stalks, and a month later it may rain for a week and there will be ducks swimming in the field. I wanted to record these changes so every Saturday morning for about twelve weeks, I've been stopping at first four, and now five places along the way to take pictures on my way to Mass. 

A while back, I started slowly uploading the pictures into a blog, and now it's more or less ready to be seen.  There's only one post, but there are five pages on the sidebar, one for each of the locations. I'll be adding a new picture to each of them every week, and I hope to continue for at least a year. I realized while I was loading the last bunch that I should have loaded them with the most recent pictures on the top, so I arranged the Cornfield page that way, and I'll try to find time to change the others little by little. 

Of course, I doubt that anyone will want to look at them very often. I'm doing this more or less for my own enjoyment. Every trip down that road--and I make that trip at least 12 times a week--has become more interesting. I'm always checking to see how things are going, and I notice so much more. Ever since we started walking, I have felt more and more a part of the area where we live, and this project has increased that sense of belonging to a place. 

There have been other really nice things that have happened also. Frequently people stop to ask if I need help. Over the past few months almost every sort of person has stopped: old, young, black, white, people with nice cars, people with beat-up old trucks. Once I was able to help an older lady who had gotten lost was frightened. 

And then, sometimes unexpected beautiful things show up. Last week I saw a bird that I've never seen before. It was small and bright yellow with black markings. Unfortunately it was too far away to get a picture, but I'll always remember it. Week before last, as I was walking back to my car from the swamp, I noticed that hundreds of swifts were flying back and forth over the bridge ahead. Most of the area was in shadow, but the sun was beaming down the path of the river and all the birds were aglow with light. I walked up to the bridge and managed to get a picture this time, but I could never convey how exhilirating and lovely it was to stand there in the midst of them.

Click the picture to see a larger version.

So, I hope that you will visit at least once. You can find it here.

AMDG