A Country Drive with Good Fences

Today I am joining Good Fences @ The Run*A*Round Ranch Report

Come along with me on a country drive,

 as we enjoy these final days of summer. 

The skies are blue as we drive along the foothills

of the Cascade Mountains in Western Washington State. 

We have taken a detour and have found some lovely farmland

surrounded by beautiful white fences. 

Apple trees, tawny grasses and conical evergreens 

create a lovely scene. 

I would love to go for a gallop along this fence-line!

This scene reminds me of those long ago days, 

riding my pony over the fields of rural Massachusetts. 

I had a pretty little Welsh Mountain Pony. 

Chocolate brown with cream colored dapples, 

and long, wavy blonde mane and tail. 

His name was Thunder. 

My girlfriend had a nearly identical pony. 

The only difference was a straight mane and tail. 

We had so many wonderful adventures together! 

But it was a brief happiness.....

Within a year he was sold....

It was taking too much of my time 

and as the eldest daughter of 5, 

I was needed at home. 

It broke my heart, 

but I will always remember those sweet, 

carefree days, riding over the trails and fields, 

the wind in my hair and freedom in my soul.

And those gentle, velvet nuzzles.....

Mt. Rainier rises above the farmlands as we continue along our way. 

An old abandoned barn...

Don't you wish you could see inside?

We travel along thick forest with wonderful old telephone poles. 

Sometimes I feel like a bird on a wire. 

Life is a balancing act. 

We pass an old log chipping site

in the middle of the forest. 

Large piles of sawdust wait to be loaded onto trucks-

this is a hot commodity in horse country

to spread on stall floors. 

We pass riders of a different sort, 

enjoying these late summer days. 

Winding country roads are my favorite way to travel. 

We arrive on the outskirts of a charming country town. 

Folks here travel in style.....

Need gas? 

Even the light poles are charming. 

Wouldn't it be fun to attend the Theatre? 

But the skies are too blue and the road is calling.....

We turn around and head for home, 

past sweet little fenced in gardens. 

And freshly cut hay-fields..... 

Christmas tree farms....

And corn fields. 

Beautiful Mt. Rainier shimmers in the distance 

as we get closer to our foothills home. 

No matter how many times I see this view,

it always takes my breath away. 

Lovely, hazy, late afternoon light glows as we 

get closer and closer to home. 

We count our many blessings as we near our mountain road. 

We close the gate behind us as the lowering sun

casts golden rays. 

Gratitude fills our hearts as we say goodbye to this 

lovely summer day. 

xoxo

Thank you for coming along with me today, Dear Friends! 

xoxo

'How there you sate in summer time,

May yet be in your mind;

And how you heard the green woods sing

Beneath the freshening wind.

Though the same wind now blows around,

You would its blast recall;

For every breath that stirs the trees

Doth cause a leaf to fall.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning-