What I saw today….

We spent our pandemic Thanksgiving doing what we enjoy:  going for a drive through the mountains, no masks needed, no social distancing necessary – just me and my husband coasting along the empty, narrow, and winding country roads.

We can always count on seeing some beautiful pastoral scenes so typical of the Allegheny Highlands of Virginia and West Virginia.

Cows graze in a field still green (a bit unusual for this time of year; global warming definitely a factor):

Light and shadow variations as the sun played hide-and-seek with clouds:

A herd of goats slowly advances up a hill searching for juicy grasses:

Then we come across some quirky scenes reflecting the rural nature of the place, expressions of creativity and a certain make-do mindset.

What do you think about this piggy mailbox?  It comes with an opening at the pig’s rear-end….

Someone’s living quarters from a long time ago, now storage for useless trash:

The name of the lane leading into the property with the deserted bus:  Slim Pickings Boulevard:

The entry fence was a sculpture created from engine parts (cam shaft, crank shaft, gears – as identified by my husband):

And a creepy little gate guardian:

But the creepiest – and most sinister – find today was a large tree with dead animal carcasses hanging from it.  Someone must hate coyotes very much.

It seems like we have to take the beauty with the weird and the ugly, side by side.

Life these days…

Life like it’s always been…

We came home to a crock pot steaming with chicken and sweet potatoes.

A simple day in the country.