Friday, October 20, 2006

The Fall Colors...have arrived!

The beautiful fall colors have arrived. The first picture was taken this morning on our way to purchase a new chain and to pickup a sharpened chain for the chainsaws. As you know, from my previous posts, we have been helping Brian & Reva gather firewood and are in the process of cleaning up our downed trees from the storm. The picture was taken from Indian Fort Theater looking out towards the scenic foothills overlooking Cowbell Holler in Madison County, Kentucky.


The rest of the pictures were taken yesterday while hauling firewood back & forth to Brian & Reva's house. This is the road they live on...Somershade also lives on this road. All of the rest of the pictures are of the road they live on, except for one. If you enlarge this picture, you can see a white horse across the pond, to the left of the mid point of the picture. There are 3 horses roaming around the pond, but I think I only got one in the picture above.


The pictures are out of order, but we are almost at the home of The Four Bears and Somershade. This is right next door. We used to own this ten acre parcel of land, but sold it off about 15 years ago. The neighbors need to paint their fence. *LOL*


I just love this view...I could just sit right here all day long and watch for deer & wild turkeys in the clearing below...Behind me would be the pond from the second picture and I could turn around and watch wild mallard ducks playfully skim across the surface of the water, as they come in for a splash landing.


Now we have just passed Somershade's home, crossed over a narrow wooden bridge and are at the home of The Four Bears in the Woods. I think I have posted this picture before, but it was in the springtime. If you sit quietly you can hear the calls of the large red-headed woodpeckers and you can definitely hear the rythmic sounds of their beaks pecking for bugs, in the bark of the trees. You can also watch the aligator snapping turtles as they curiously look to see who is silently sitting on the banks of the pond...it never fails...they just have to stick their long thick necks out to look.

The last picture below is just another picture of the area and hopefully you will be able to click on any picture to enlarge them for better viewing.

Because of all the rain that we have had this year, I think this is turning out to be one of the prettiest Autumns that we have had in a long time. The leaves are turning colors slowly and are staying on the trees. In years past, the leaves turned their gorgeous fall colors and on that same night we would have a violent storm denude all of the trees at once...leaving nothing but bare branches.

Although the fall colors are something to see, I don't like to see the trees without any leaves. I once planted all the evergreen trees that I could around me, so that I could see green all year long...But in the winter, the wet snowfall would bend the trees over and sometimes break them. And sometimes the bent over trees would block my path out and I would be snow-bound and trapped.

The year I met Jimmy, I was trapped in my cabin for over a week with no electicity or way out...it snowed about 3 feet. I had a VERY LARGE chainsaw, but wasn't able to pull the cord to start it. If I pulled on the cord, the bar would swing over to one of my legs and I was halfway afraid I would cut one of my legs off...and they aren't worth a darn if you can't get them started...the chainsaw, not my legs. *VBS* I had a Mamabear wood stove and plenty of firewood & food, so I kept warm and cooked on top of the woodstove. My girlfriends tried to come out to get me, but all the roads within 5 miles were blocked with downed trees and they couldn't call me because the phone lines were down. After or during the snowfall, I can't remember, we had an ice-storm and it was dangerous outside because of falling trees and heavy ice laden branches constantly falling. It was a very errie sound to hear the popping and cracking of large trees and then see them tumbling down all around you. I stayed put for over a week and then decided to walk out, at about the 11th day or so...but where would I go, so I came back to find that the phone was now working...YIPEE!! I called the guys who delivered my wood and asked them if they would come cut me out and they did. They laughed because of all the cutting they had to do just to get in...I lived way back in the sticks...a non priority road...no school bus or mail delivery here and a driveway that was about a quarter of a mile long. Jimmy later asked why I didn't call him...he would have come he said and I told him I didn't know him well enough yet to call him. I had only met him a few days before the storm.

Well...this post WAS about fall colors, not about ice-storms. This is what happends when you write your posts as you go. Your mind wanders off in all directions thinking of old times. *S*

Have a nice weekend and think of me when you see a dead or downed tree because that's what I'll be doing this weekend...cutting and hauling more firewood.

30 comments:

Susie said...

The photos are beautiful! I loved reading about the ice storm. I don't think I would have been quite as self sufficient as you!
Great post!!

Rachel said...

All lovely pictures!! The leaves are pretty right now.

I remember the ice storm. I ended up buying a chainsaw and using it after that. Ice storms are sure hard on the trees. I was trapped in for 5 days!! Drove me nuts too!!!

tomlaureld@yahoo.com said...

Ice storm are one thing that really bother me. We had one ice storm that knocked my cable line down and the limbs of the tree were too too close to getting our powerline; so I went out and trimmed the tree around the line. Love those fall colors.

Susan Tidwell said...

Cowbell Holler! Love it! Great fall colors you have there. Ours are starting to turn also. Love the memories of ice storms, reminds me of our past ones. Nothing like being trapped in the house for days on end, but we have always had a wood stove for heating and cooking. Don't work too hard, have a great weekend!

Kat Campbell said...

Don't you just love rural areas? We have streets named Possum Holler, Buzzards Glory and Irish Point. Try not to overdo this weekend! Your pictures are beautiful.

Kerri said...

Very beautiful pictures Sandy. Seems you've waited a long time for those colors. I hope they last a while.
We just loved your story about being snowed in. Sounds so isolated where you were. What was the time period?
You sure were an independant gal, living alone so far off the beaten path. And I'm impressed that you had a very big chain saw and knew how to use it! I'm glad you didn't cut your leg off :)
You go girl!

TJ said...

I loved your fall landscapes!!
And the story of the icestorm...you should tell us stories more often...I thought it was sweet of Jimmy to offer...no wonder you are together now
;-D

Anonymous said...

Just caught up with your last 3 posts Sandy, you have sure been busy.
Beautiful pictures, you live in a really pretty area.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful area to live in, the photos are great.
Cheers Margaret

LZ Blogger said...

I LOVE the fall colors! ~ jb///

Tim Rice said...

Ah, you do have some pretty views. :)

Granny said...

I love the fall colors but I've never been a great fan of ice storms.

Sorry to be so late getting around to you. Stupid Blogger.

Judypatooote said...

Hi Sandy.....don't ya just love the fall and all the colors... it's my favorite time of the year... back to the ice storm, were you stranded all by your self? by the way I was looking through Lakeside Catalog and they had a Kuku bird in their, and he had a saying of "I took a pain pill, but your still there".... I thought maybe Kuku escaped and you lost him......lol

Cher said...

wonderful colors Sandy-and a great story or two as well...I miss the days of chopping firewood...but not enough to do it again now.

HORIZON said...

Talk about cabin fever!! Great story and l enjoyed the bit..."...and they aren't worth a darn if you can't get them started...the chainsaw, not my legs. " Made me smile.
You should have called Jimmy!
Beautiful colours around your old patch and very lucky for Somershade to still live there!
Bests for now,

doubleknot said...

Wow - the pictures are great and enlarged even greater - I saw the horse. It made me cold reading about your ice storm - you must be brave and resourceful to make through all that.

Franny said...

How beautiful! I love your pictures.

... Paige said...

Awesome! Glad the rain came in handy. I love the sound that the words make "Cowbell Holler"
That is something to note in my journal.

R.Powers said...

Those colors are beautiful. Hope you didn't work too hard on the firewood hauling!

Hunter said...

The colors are beautiful. I'd hate to see what would happen if I ever got caught in an ice storm. I reach for a quilt when our temperature falls to 78 degrees.

Darilyn

Anonymous said...

Living in Florida I so miss the tree's and all the beautiful fall colors of the leaves, thanks for the walk around your beautiful area.

Anonymous said...

I took that exact same picture over looking flat gap and dog wood drive with my camera phone while rideing my bike last week. Funny we both liked the same shot.
Stopped in to say I love you and xxxooo

Alipurr said...

those are beautiful fall trees. I love them too. I, too, have noticed how fast the leaves have fallen off the trees the past few years...kind of dreary. Wow, I am glad you had a huge wood stove and plenty of food and wood, reminds me of the Little House stories I read earlier this year :)

Carole Burant said...

No wonder I love Autumn....the colours are so brilliant!! Absolutely love all your pictures, especially the one with the fence along the property, so very pretty!! We get a lot of winter storms here in northern Ontario and ice storms also so I know how stuck you were but I don't live in such a remote area that you did...I'm not sure how I would have handled it on my own like you did!! Eek!

Unknown said...

Gorgeous colors and the very best time of year to ride horses!

Ava said...

Hey!

I'm back on line!!! Great pictures!

Ava

sonia a. mascaro said...

Those Fall colors are just stunning!

Anonymous said...

I so miss those colors. Arizona is beautiful in it's own way but I miss for distinct seasons. My home state of Tennessee is beuatiful like this.

Gary said...

That was a very nice mind-wandering post. The pictures are wonderful. I really wish that here in Southeast Texas the countryside was as beautiful as that, but I have to drive 50 miles north just to see so much as a hill. I love green in the winter too. Fortunately we do have lots of that.

Tanya said...

Loved this post. I felt like I was right there. And I loved the snowed-in story, too :)