NY State of Mind

Ah, vacation. We recently returned from a nine-day spin through Michigan to visit friends and family. A needed break in the daily routine.

To get to Mich, we usually drive across northern New York then straight across Canada. About an hour into the drive, any drive, my head usually bobs off. But the drive across New York on this Friday morning -- July 3rd -- kept me wide awake as the sights of Americana flourished from town to town. This route begs for some photo journalism. Some of my favorite observations:

--"Pee Wee's Used Goods: Toys, Tools, and Tarps" -- Tarps?

--"Ruth's Baked Goods" -- Under a small tent on a indistinct town corner, Ruth was setting up a table and unloading bins of breads and such from a worn pickup. Since she was wearing a long grey dress, I assumed she was Amish or something. I would've loved to stop, but our driver typically breaks only for bathrooms and meals.

--Anglers putting on waders for a morning fish.

--Sad houses, happy houses: Sad ones often had old Fords, worn campers, or rusty appliances in their yards. Happy ones had color annuals and/or carefully tended vegetable gardens. I always love a good show of Home Pride.

--A wind farm: In the middle of a string of country towns, a significant number of huge, eerie windmills stand. I've seen acres of windmills in California, but these in NY seem bigger, and they all spin at the same rate. While I love the idea of a wind farm, the mills still seemed out of place and so highly industrial out in this pasture:



--Finally, shortly before we left New York and crossed a bridge to Canada, we passed through Waddington, the "World Carp Capitol" -- How does a town get such a distinction?

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