i often question myself why live here? this place is nestled in the hardscrabble farmland of the north slope of the adirondack mountains. once, this farm was a working dairy farm and the surrounding neighbors were mostly family. the 1865 map shows neat squares and rectangles bisected by rivers and streams. we are at about 750 feet above sea level if i read my usgs map correctly. my neighbor has another batch of cattle, since i've lived here there have been holstein heifers, then texas longhorns, and now this dozen lovely black simmental cows, who have now dropped calves so the voices are so varied from up the hill.

everyone scrambles to make a living. the wood guy doesn't live up the telephone pole, but a mile up the next crossroad. i read north country, so i understand this. plus he logged my land one time.

see the line of black spruce trees? that's the back/side of my land as seen from behind my property. the farther hill is several miles off. those spruce are horrific to try to walk through.

today, as most days, i walked wendy after work. this is what i saw. i ask you, how could i not live here? so i will now, after settling down from the day, and walking and feeding wendy, go to the list of things to do, income taxes to organize, a special book to make, and a couple more to work on, and shifu needing attention. oh, and some organizing for school.

afterword: pieces of d wrote a comment and i think i should state here, that this place isn't idyllic. we have those guys in pickups with "pipes" that roar by too fast, two houses within a holler are boarded up or falling down, people illegally burn waste, hunt out of season, litter, and have even stolen trees from my land. repeatedly. a town close by has (or had 10 years ago) the highest incest rate in the country. we even have a couple of mc mansions recently and hideously hogging old farmsteads. nevertheless, i live here by choice, and love this place i adopted as home.