Back Road Beauty: Out Here...

Out here is beauty in the emptiness, the wide open spaces.  A ditch becomes a work of art when the wind and snow sculpt it into a curve and swirl of glittery perfection.

So I put on my boots and coat and get Dixie out and we took off to go out and find even more of winter's stark beauty, take it in, capture it. 

Camera up, windows down, the defroster and the heater on full blast, and country tunes on the radio to hum along to.  I hear the crunch of my tires on the snow out the window and feel the cool breeze on my face.  

Out here, life is perfect, my soul is soothed.

Out here, some roads are untouched yet by anything but a snowmobile, a snow desert.

Out here sits faded time in old, abandoned farmyards...with quirky sheds and outbuildings that only look better with age.

Out here, I feel a tug at my heart, of pride, of sadness, nostalgia for the way things were and won't ever be again...

I am happy that some things are left to be, to rust, to exist for us coming later to see, out here...  

And, I wish that I could take the corn crib sitting back in that field right home with me.

Out here, my eye sees the places where boys did the work of men -- and men and women grew many children into adults who could stand on their own, whole families worked hard --with great pride-- generation after generation to make America great.


And my heart hurts just a little at the thought of those beautiful families, what a great way to build up a country--out here.

Out here, a small country church sits bathed in the twilight.  

Can you hear the organ playing "Amazing Grace"?

I wonder about the story of this barn that sits right next to the road, and admire the classic look and hope it stands another 100 years.  I'm happy to find sheep in the field next to it and the farm next to that, and yet another one, too.  


I make a note to myself to come back in the spring when the lambs are bounding around in the fields, to bring my grandson when he's a little older to drink in the place where I live and love to be in any season--out here.

Out here, the "blue hour" has arrived, twilight turned on the color and the charm.

Even the rear view mirror holds beauty!

Now we are heading for home when the last pink light is sinking into the horizon and the bluest cast lays on the snow.  

What's not to love about life out here?  It's simple, and heartbreakingly beautiful.