chocolatepoint's photostream  

@ Town of Florida, New York.

I don't need to watch the President's State of the Union Address tonight to know that things are a little precarious in the U.S. of A.

A seasonal version of the scene above has existed since (at least) the Spring of 2011. It appears that someone is ready to "man the barricades" should a revolution (maybe Civil War II) begin. Who knew that the pieces of a metal bedframe (?) could do double duty as barricades?!

Lest you think that I'm making too much of one little driveway, note that the property owner has another large land parcel across the street. Its front and back driveways are adorned with a "Don't Tread on Me" flag display similar to the one above. The driveways are often blocked by side-by-side pick-up trucks, too. Now THAT's a more serious deterrent than an old bedframe. Message received loud and clear, dude.

@ Town of Palatine, New York.

This farm is right across the road from the former Wilbur Saltsman farm. It's quite a bucolic scene. I couldn't pass up taking a few photos. If you pick the largest size photo, you can just make out a horse and buggy (with a triangular reflector on it) in front of the house.

The house is fairly new and illustrates the "plainness" that the Amish favor. If we could see the front door in the photo, I bet that it's painted light blue. All of the Amish homes in the area have a blue door. It takes the guesswork out of finding kindred spirits, I assume.

I finally said goodbye to my 10 year old Honda (with an oil leak that wasn't worth fixing) and bought a 2012 Nissan Rogue. I'm very happy with it. I look forward to many fine years of "exploring" in my new vehicle. Photography will be involved, too, of course!

My travels were severely restricted for the last six months due to my aging car. I plan to make up for lost time now...before the snow flies and the bitter cold arrives! Watch out if you see a middle-aged gal in a gray (actually, I think it's called "graphite") Rogue careening down the road. It's me! Consider yourself forewarned. LOL.

@ Albany, New York.

Yes...my 2001 Honda Civic hit 180,000 miles about 2 weeks ago. I stopped to take some cell phone photos.

It has been a very good car. Sure, it leaks oil and one door is mangled (due to my elderly landlord backing into me recently), but 10 years and 180,000 miles is a darn good "run" for a car. Kudos to Honda.

I hate shopping, especially, car shopping. But winter is coming and a well-functioning car is kind of a good idea in Upstate New York. After months of screwing around, I FINALLY made a purchase -- a 2012 Nissan Rogue. It's got all wheel drive! Yes, I cut a good deal. "Take no prisoners" is my motto. LOL.

I pick up my Rogue up tomorrow. Yippee!!!!!!

I'm going to take my Honda for one more spin around the backroads today to say "thanks for a job well done." I'm feeling verklempt.

@ Lost Valley, New York.

I was a little surprised to find some critter's former head staring at me during a recent outing. We ran into each other as I walked along the bank of the Schoharie Creek in one of my favorite places, Lost Valley. It brought to mind phrases like "Dead Man's Gulch."

The scenic spot has always been prone to flooding, but Hurricane Katrina was particularly vicious. One cute little house that used to sit closer to the creek than the others has completely disappeared! All the vegetation along the shore had disappeared, too. And that's only a small sample of the damage wreaked on Lost Valley by the August 2011 storm.

Anyway...I suspect that this "clean" skull was from a dehorned cow (?) that died long before Katrina. It probably came from someplace upstream and was left on the rocky shore by the receeding floodwaters. Nobody has had cows anytime recently in Lost Valley, that I know of. I do think that cows grazed there up until the 1930s, though. That's when farmer John Turner first opened a bar/grill/dance hall in Lost Valley and the land was parceled off for rustic summer homes (called "camps" in this neck of the woods).

But, hey, what do I know about livestock? I could be completely wrong. I grew up in a city, for crying out loud! LOL.

If you DO know what animal belongs to this skull, feel free to speak up. I'm curious.