Roads less traveled

Whenever we have to go places, I love the trips that avoid the huge, improved traffic filled highways. I love the two lane roads that wind through the woods with clumps of houses here and there. Its seldom more than a few minutes off the beaten path to find these wonderful roads. One road we take fairly often when we go to Clermont goes through the green swamp and through an area they call Rock Ridge. EVERYONE knows about Rock Ridge and that its not a place to get off the hard roads at night. We've never encountered problems, but the area is more enhanced by this mysterious warning I think.

One afternoon coming home we saw a man parasailing.. or is it hang gliding. He floated above us with what looked like a small lawn mower engine attached to his 'wings'. Soon he was joined by a lightweight. Beautiful blue sky with added interest. I love to go slowly through these areas - you can see deeper into the swamp in early spring and late fall when so many of the leaves have fallen. One time as we came home as evening was falling, a family of racoons went racing across the road and disappeared into the swamp.

Along one mile stretch of the road, is about a 4' high vein of soft rock. Real rock is very rare down here. We have some limestone deposits, but nothing like the boulders you find in more northern sections of the country. A joke where we used to live was that people learned to farm around the rocks - OR.. we'd all be rich if we could market them.

That's why so many of the New England farms and houses have wonderful old stone walls.

I hope everyone is enjoying the anticipation of upcoming Christmas. I found out tonight that my son in law is singing a solo at church this Christmas. He who said he couldn't sing. Sometimes I think God gives us grace to do things we ordinarily either couldn't or wouldn't to bless His children. He gave me the grace to play the organ one year at church. I'm certainly not a trained organist, but I know that He either enabled me to play, or He allowed people to hear something that was pleasing. LOL. I'm never sure which it was.