No Alarm Clock and What to Do About That

     I'm getting into the groove of summer vacation by having my day begin without an alarm. It's a little disconcerting and I feel like I'm floundering on how to make best use of all this "free" time. It's not a problem. However, I want to use my time wisely and to it's fullest potential and it seems that I'm only good at wasting much of it. I think I'm too daydreamy.
     Today was full of all kinds of things that were mostly a bunch of nothing. It was perfect. Now that the weather has turned humid and warm, we're walking in the cool of the morning. I love to bring my camera because I never know what might pop up along the way and I would hate to miss a surprise. We startled plenty of deer this morning. One of them (it looked like a young buck) came crashing through the woods and bounded across the road right smack in front of Henri. It was quite a sight, both of the deer and of the startled Schnoodle. So follow along! It's a two mile walk.
     I love the sun and shadow this early in the morning as we leave the house behind. There are deer in the tall grass across the field and they leap away when they see us approach. Farther up the road, Honeysuckle grows all along the banks. It's scent rivals the Gardenia in sweetness. I tend to go on and on about how wonderful the honeysuckle smells and I'm sure Steve is tired of my raving. But honestly, I could swoon over that honeysuckle. All the land that you see in these photos, hundreds and hundreds of acres, was once entirely owned by one family. Can you imagine?! The little log structure with the chimney was fully standing only five years ago. It's part of the original owner's history. Right next to where it disintegrates stands a modern aluminum barn that has also become also mostly abandoned. Two of the three brothers that currently own much of this land have died. Their gardens have disappeared and only a few cattle now graze their fields. Even the farmhouse at the end of our walk is no longer lived in. It's rather sad. I envision it as it once once, alive and thriving. We see the history on this acreage crumbling even in the few years we have lived here. Now, my own history is being written on a tiny piece of this massive, beautiful countryside. There it sits, alive and full of life, (well, sleepy life at this time of the day) with the sun shining brightly on it...for a lifetime or two. I do like vine-covered, crumbling, old structures though. So I won't mind when ours becomes that way, too. One day.
    

Honeysuckle covers the road bank!

Peaks of Otter with wispy clouds

An old cabin with what looks like an add-on.

A hay wagon waits for its load.

The farmhouse marks the end of one mile.