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My nephew bought an acreage a few years ago and has been fixing up and remodeling the old farmhouse. His original intent was to move in and make it a home for him and his wife and their preschool-aged twins, Brody and Ella. We visited yesterday to view their progress and I had fun snapping a few pictures of the beautiful old barn situated there.

The twins were running around, laughing and playing in the sun, and I was dismayed to hear that my nephew and his wife have decided to sell the place instead. While their reasons for doing so are practical and sound, I was still saddened to think of how these beautiful young ones won’t enjoy a childhood growing up on this incredible spread of land.

I love the weathered look of this door and its rusty hinges. I wanted to explore the inside of the barn but wasn’t properly dressed for the occasion and can only hope they change their mind about living there so that one day I may be able to do just that.

Thursday Doors: September 10

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I was drawn to these hay bales partly due to their proximity to the country back road I travelled on tonight as well as to how they were positioned there, the three larger ones with the baby close by, nestled beneath some trees at the entrance to a wide open field. Later, when I uploaded the photos to my computer, I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed all that grass growing on the surface, poking through the mesh that holds these larger cylindrical bales of hay together.

It made me smile.

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Sense of Seeing

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A favorite bike trail crossing of mine on the Great Western Trail is just a few yards off of this gravel road intersection. It’s a good stopping point to tip back our water bottles, compare notes on the ride and turn back to the trailhead where our vehicle awaits us.

Central Iowa gravel roads are a twisting, turning maze of this way and that. I’m never quite sure where the highway is to take me home again but that’s part of the adventure when I’m on a photo expedition. Finding this particular intersection – 33rd Avenue and Fillmore – has eluded me for weeks.

Until now.

I was delighted a few nights ago to stumble onto a not-yet-travelled strip of gravel with gorgeous old barns, windmills and fields of cattle. While I had yet to find anything that caught my photographic eye that evening, I did make a happy discovery: the 33rd Avenue road sign. Could this be it? I drove along for a mile or two and there it was. I’d found it.

I was further thrilled another quarter mile or so to come across an old single-lane bridge. The road was lined by swamp and deep woods on either side. When I exited my car to snap a few photos, I had to make it quick as the mosquitoes – late in the evening as it was – were literally out for blood, aghast (or perhaps thrilled?) at my intrusion.

It was a successful outing. I’d found a bridge to photograph and more importantly, my elusive intersection was elusive no more.

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #33