GOING TO TOWN

Mae West made a film in 1935 called Goin' to Town, which has absolutely no correlation with this post. My going to town experiences are much less provocative and hardly sexually stimulating.

After two weeks of gloriously beautiful weather, I had no qualms about making the dreaded drive into town yesterday morning. As soon as I got ready - as if on cue by God - the torrential rains began. I had to wait two hours for the storm to subside - after which my car wouldn't start. This mishap forced me to waste another hour making uneducated manuevers under the hood (the hood is the bonnet, for those of you in Yorkshire).

Against my better judgement, I brought my El Cheapo camera with me this time, and documented my perilous journey for posterity.

It's nearly impossible to take photos on the way to town because there are very few places to pull off the road, and there are constant risks of plunging off a cliff or getting pummeled by a logging truck (or lorry, for those of you in Sheffield).

Despite the obstacles, here are the results of my efforts.

 I took all of these photos from the car window, so they're not particularly good. The trees are just beginning to turn colors.They will look much more spectacular in another week or two.

 The "cliffs" look more impressive in real than on these pics.

The rain clouds eventually broke up and the blue sky emerged.

Taken on the way home. This is the narrow road that winds past my mountain shack.

 A view of the cow pasture adjacent to my property.

And some photos of the moon which I took a few nights ago.

My other blog:
http://cabinetofcurioustreasures.blogspot.com 

WELCOME, OCTOBER!

When I stepped outside in the front part of my property yesterday morning, I was surprised to discover some pumpkins growing (I didn't plant them). I hadn't noticed them before, and they reminded me that my favorite month is here - October!

 Will they be ready for Halloween?

Rather than bore everyone with one of my usual tediously long posts, I've decided to bore everyone with some autumnal photos from my past - taken in Texas and the Missouri Ozarks (I lived in both places after I left California).

 The first year that I lived in Texas I decided to grow some pumpkins. The soil was so dry and the drought so bad, that any semblance of gardening was excruciating work. The above photo is what my efforts yielded. That was my first and last Texas garden.

 All in a row.

More from my Texas garden

 This is the lake that I lived by in West Texas

Every autumn, thousands of Canadian geese would migrate to the tiny town where I lived in W. Texas. I took this photo when the moon was rising.

 This is my cat Scratch (also known as Kitzee) when I first got her from an animal shelter in Odessa, TX. She was three or four months old. October, 2005.

 Me in the Missouri Ozarks. I actually loved it there, except for the fact that there were storms about 350 days a year.

I was in an extremely bad relationship in the Ozarks. We almost wound up killing each other. Hillbillies are great in bed, but not easy to live with. Especially alcoholic hillbillies...

 In Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, near Springfield, MO. Site of a Civil War battle.

Taken in my back yard in the Missouri Ozarks. I loved the maple trees.

The Ozarks is where I became a good ol' country boy

I'm risking my reputation posting this pic, because I look like an old scarecrow.

What reputation, Jon?

This was taken at a farm somewhere along old Route 66 in Missouri. The horses were made of hay (as if you couldn't guess).