How long is our driveway?

That's the question a reader asked in a comment on the last entry.  So I trudged down to the road at sunup, stood at the beginning of our drive, and took a picture.  

You can see our single-wide trailer house peeking out from behind the barn.  Yes, I live out behind the barn, which reminds me of the Little Jimmy Dickens song that is so much fun to sing when I get my guitar out.   




My pappy used to tan my hide, out behind the barn

He taught me to be dignified, out behind the barn
     But when he took his strap to me,
     And turned me down across his knee
He sure did hurt my dignity, out behind the barn

   I got my education out behind the barn
   And I'm not foolin' no siree
   Passed each examination, out behind the barn
   But it almost made a wreck out of me

I smoked my first cigarette, out behind the barn
And that's a day I won't forget, out behind the barn
     I got sick, you should have seen,
     How that terbaccy turned me green
I almost died from nicotine, out behind the barn

I met a pretty girl one day, out behind the barn
She wanted me to stay and play, out behind the barn
     She taught me how to kiss and pet,
     And that's a game I won't forget
'Cause we still play that same game yet, out behind the barn

I wish that I could go again, out behind the barn
And do some things that I did then, out behind the barn
     Now you may think it ain't no fun,
     To be a poor old farmer's son
But you just don't know what all I've done, out behind the barn

But I digress.  Since I was down by the road anyhow, I took a shot of our two-story house where Cliff's sister and her son are living.  

That's the house we moved into in 1975.  We moved behind the barn in 2008.  In the background is Cliff's shop; on the right is our old garage.  Cliff's sister parks on one side, and Cliff parks our seldom-used pickup on the other side.  

I was standing in front of the barn to take this shot.  

Here you have Cliff's shop:  his getaway, the doghouse if he's in trouble, the place he works on tractors and implements, and I'd venture to say his second home.  It's also where we hold family gatherings.  There are a few stories I could tell about how and why we had the shop built, and I will tell them, one of these days.  

Who needs a cabin?

My longtime readers have seen plenty of pictures of my cabin in the woods. It came about because Cliff fulfilled a wish of mine for a place where I could go and get away from all the people and traffic around here. There was a time I'd try to spend at least one night a week back there with my dog. Sadie (and Mandy before her) both enjoyed staying at the cabin because they were allowed to sleep on the air mattress with me. And also because there's always something for a dog to do in the woods.

It's been a cold spring, with nights in the 40's and 50's. So that has kept me from sleeping at the cabin. But truth be told, now that we're back here away from the road, I pretty much have all the benefits of the cabin (in my back yard, at least) along with the comforts of home.

I can start a fire in the firepit and watch Sadie nosing around the place.

If I were to take a notion to get on the computer, it's right on the other side of that window. Of course, I could bring the laptop outside with me, too.

I can enjoy the sunset in peace and quiet.

I have an Internet radio to play my Pandora stations for me.

And there's a bathroom and a kitchen and running water. Oh, and air conditioning when it's hot. I have none of these comforts in the woods.

So I'm not sure how much I'll be using the cabin. I don't think it will be often.

Cliff got high today

When I was in the garden today, at one point I heard Cliff talking to a neighbor boy and looked up to see them on top of our barn; I think the boy was there simply for conversation, I'm not sure. The roof on the middle part of the barn was getting pretty rusty, so Cliff went up there with a bucket of stuff with which to coat it.

He said this was the hardest he's worked in a long, long time. I took him a glass of water, and he mentioned that the view atop the barn was fantastic. So I handed him my camera and told him to click away.

He took a picture of Bonnie and Secret.

And several of our home sweet home. How do you like our new shingles?

This one shows our garage.

And here's one you can click on to make larger, so you can appreciate our big back yard (and see some of the neighbor's junk). Where the trees start, that's where the deep canyons lie. Look carefully and you'll see the roof of my cabin.