On the way to Bennington to purchase a new microwave, we crossed over several sets of railroad tracks, so I took the obligatory shots.
Some people drove by and I half expected them to ask what I was doing, which happened to me occasionally in foreign countries.
It is sort of strange to have that sensation here, of feeling almost an intruder.
Is it the times we live in, I wonder?
Am I becoming paranoid?
Not paranoid. It’s just that people are so easily offended these days, that I avoid talking to strangers, which is hardly new for me.
The only time I find myself in the company of strangers nowadays, is when I am obliged to sit in a waiting room at a doctor’s office.
Not long ago as I waited, I was witness to a man berating his partner. He made no attempt to lower his voice and she sat meekly, not responding.
That scenario was offensive to me. It brought back unpleasant memories that made my guts squirm.
But it is not only memories that make me feel that way. It’s that it is a symptom of the anger which is everywhere today.
.
.
Mercifully, we can still drive for miles without seeing another soul.
Of late, unusually, our weather has tended to be overcast.
But not this day. It was splendid.
At Hoosic Falls my driver swung the car off the road so we could take a look at the river.
It immediately reminded me of that wonderful 1957 film, Bridge on the River Kwai. Probably just the sound of the rapids, certainly not the bridge itself.
The film remains one of my two favourites.
The rapids were mostly concealed behind brush, so I settled for reflections instead.
Leaving Hoosic Falls:
Another fence! And a horse (see it?)
We saw other animals as well that day…
A horse and its companion watched us go by.
Is the donkey expecting or just plump?
One of the routes to Bennington takes us past an Alpaca Farm.
No stopping allowed:(
Not far from where I once lived in Washington State, there is a tiny *zoo in the town of Issaquah.
You could feed Llamas there which was my idea of fun.
.
*Cougar Mountain Zoo
This day, in October 2010, I got to feed lemurs.
The Zoo was selling various “experiences” to raise funds. In this case a local cat rescue had purchased the Lemur Experience which it then auctioned off to raise more funds for their cats!
So I was happy on two counts.
The Tiger encounter wasn’t quite as intimate, sadly!
(Fortunately?”)
Finally I managed to capture an image of these leaves that still hang on for grim death. In the right light they are so pretty.
We were exceptionally late for lunch this day.
By then clouds were moving in.
Contemplating our now defunct microwave I said we should remove it and install more cupboards. But promptly decided:
“Nah. We’ll just use it as a cupboard.”
So that’s what we did.
And now, the bread lives in the old microwave.
Instead of on top of the toaster.
Still not in the breadbox.
Thank you, Carolyn, for your interesting musing and the picture.
Joanna
Thank you for the fence!
Enjoyed this!
What a wealthy post dear Caro. I remember the film too.
And I like you still make lots of images from your intuition. I enjoyed the landscape and your images with lemurs and the white tiger !!
Saw quite a few Alpacas in South America and they even served up Alpaca steaks in Bolivia, but they were as tough as a leather boot. Maybe the way they were cooked, but I didn’t enjoy eating this type of meat. I’m ot a big fan of meat anyway but I would have offended if I hadn’t tried the “delicacy”.
I hate seeing the abuse of women (but anyone really, doesn’t matter the gender), especially when a partner/spouse humiliates them in public – how gutless. I’m sure I would have given the person “The Look” and I’m told it’s quite scary and confronting! 😉
Great to see you’re getting out and about – I love rail tracks!
That nasty man got the full benefit of my filthiest look but regrettably it had no effect. If looks could kill there would be quite a queue of corpses in my past! Not all men, either.
Using the old microwave as a breadbox sounds like a great way to recycle defunct electrical goods. That could catch on!
Best wishes, Pete.
Beautiful photos of the rail tracks and the bridge – it looks like a proper back road, the kind we like to drive on! And great photos of the zoo visit in 2010 – I would love to feed some lemurs!
So, you have in fact now a very expensive breadbox 😉.