Furlough Weekend (4)

Here we is today, at part 4 of our tidy little series called Furlough Weekend. Shall we begin at the beginning? Damn, even got stale cliches at this blog as well.

This is the road that leads to the campground. As you can see, the thing is 100% rocks and gravel. Great for destroy tires and the undercarriages of cars. Also great for getting stuck in the side should you be foolhardy enough to make room for someone to go by.

This was more of a drive by shot than anything else. That blurry sculpture belongs to that blurred image of a local art gallery. The yard itself contains a few funky steel oriented sculptures and the gallery is housed in a converted barn, I think. The reason as to why I sound so unsure is that for the past several years, I've never really paid any attention to the actual building, only the sculptures in the front yard. This art (or sculpture gallery, I guess) is the first thing you see when you make a quick right after that farm from the previous week's post.

I'm pretty sure I took this shot on the weekend. Not sure whether it was Saturday or Sunday, but apparently I was sitting in my favorite summertime writing spot in the backyard sometime in the late afternoon or early evening when this shot presented itself to me. The reason as to why I can narrow down the time is that the sun often doesn't hit my side of the street until after 3p. Gotta admit though, it really is a fantastic shot of the sun weaving its way through the trees.

Another shot of the front bay window with all the stuffed aminals looking quite forlorn.

Sometime ago, I showed you a shot of what my cubicle was like. I would dig it out for a comparison, but frankly, I'm wasn't in the mood to go wondering through my Picassa Web gallery to find it. Anyways, back in April, the person who had this cube retired and because it is a window cube (highly desirable real estate), it was offered to the person with the most seniority left in the unit. Since he didn't want it (mostly because his current cube allowed him to be closer to upper management), it was offered to the next person in line: me. This is only a temporary home as whoever gets to be a supervisor in the unit will get this cubicle, but until then, its all MINE. Anyways, it took me less then three days to move all of my stuff in, which considering how much crap I really accumulated in the past four years is quite remarkable.

And finally, the obligatory bird in the birdbath shot, taken in conjunction with the obligatory shot of the car.

Furlough Weekend (3)

And thus, we begin at the exact center of the picture series, part three of five. You could call it "3" but this isn't STTNG nor am I Locutus. Anywho, please enjoy the view.

This particular picture was taken at one of the local farms that dot the surrounding rural countryside where the campsite is located. Yup, in this fascinating little town called Litchfield, you have farms side by side with $400K houses, a wonderful 18 hole golf course, and a couple of wineries (this winery I believe is the one that we drive by all the time) are nestled in here as well. Anyways, it was a gorgeous Friday afternoon as you can see and the atmosphere was just about perfect. No, there weren't any cows to speak off, as this particular farm specializes in horses and corn. As a matter of fact, the particular farm in the early fall has, you guessed it, a big fat corn maze and a Great Pumpkin Patch.

Another shot of the same farm. I took two because I wanted to make sure that I got it right in the first place. The story behind this and previous shot is quite interesting. The road that I took this shot from is pretty much the width of two cars plus a couple of feet. In order to take this shot without getting clipped, I had to pull over to the side and make sure I didn't go into the drainage ditch, then I opened the door and stood on the seat and runner to get this shot. I would sat that I used the door to balance myself, but a key bolt that normally holds the door in place once you open it part of the way was gone, so I had to have my wife grab hold of my leg to make sure I didn't fall over.

This was shot was taken at one of the side roads that dot the area where we were driving. Most of the side roads are this funky mix of gravel and tar and no curbs to speak off. I took this one because I wanted to give everyone a good idea of what kind of rural is mixed in with the suburbia that is Litchfield. And just like the previous one, I stood on the runner and seat to take this picture.

This is looking down the road we were driving on just moments ago. As you can see, the width of the road is about two car lengths and its incredibly winding and scenic.

The entrance to the campground called Hemlock Hills. Mother dearest has her RV stored up here (season passes start at $2K) and about 96% of the clientele are long termers, which is what this campground specializes in. It's open from about April thru mid-October, and in the winter time, the roads leading into are closed. You can tell when you're in the general proximity of the campground because regular road that you travel on to get there instantly changes at the entrance to road that is about as wide as your car and 100% dirt with enough of drop off on either side to get stuck for hours on end (mother dearest got her RV stuck for five hours or so). Anyways, the kids love it, mother loves it, and Joanne, well...lets just say that in keeping with what I've been bitchin' about behind the scenes and what occasionally makes it to this blog and Facebook about certain aspects of my life, she feels roughly the same way about that campground. Sort of a love/despise relationship you might say.

Furlough Weekend (2)

So here we are for part two of the incredibly depressing and financially devastating July 4th Furlough weekend. Won't you come join for a moment of the cool refreshing detachment known as "the unreality check"?

This picture was taken on the way back from the credit union. I had walked all the way to Burger King (about 3 1/4 miles or so) in about an hour and a half and took a brief pit stop to scarf down a soda and make a call to the wife for something. After refreshing my palate, I tripped over to the credit union where I joined about a dozen other fellow co-workers who were doing the same thing as I was (bitchin', moanin', groanin' and commiserating) that day. After I'd gotten my money and spent about five minutes playing hopscotch across eight lanes of highway, I continued on my journey back home, this time taking a ton of side roads. This picture was the only one I took walking down the side road because I was carrying to much crap that day and it would've been to much a problem to drop my stuff, take out my camera, take a shot, put my camera away and pick up my schtuff. The main focus of this shot (such as it was) was the floral arrangement around the mailbox.

Again, one of my favorite subjects to shoot: Keeny Manufacturing. This time it was that old standby, the water sculptures. Some twenty minutes after I took this shot, I stopped at Subway for lunch, which I ate in the center of town on the local green. That particular stop was last of two occasions (Burger King was the first) of the first half of my day that I actually sat. So basically from about 8:30a through 1:30p I was on my feet doing foot patrol. Don't worry, it doesn't get any better.

About twice a month I frequently walk all the way down Main Street before turning down a side road to go home. This shot of my finger with the nifty landscaping in the background was taken on one of the many side streets that dot my neighborhood. The landscaping on this street is quite interesting and this was the best of the bunch. Unfortunately, my thumb/finger thought otherwise.

Remember I said it doesn't get any better? Well, it don't. Shortly after I got home (like 15 minutes) I had to drive to Litchfield and drop off my wife at the campsite. So here I am, driving in a car after spending about 4 1/2 very hard and very tiring hours walking (keep in mind that yours truly has muscle weakness in his legs and walks in order to maintain the status quo). Anyways, this shot was taken by the wife as I was driving up route 118 in Litchfield. This section of roadway is located about three minutes from route 8 and about a half hour from that ever popular Lourdes In Litchfield.

This shot was again taken by the wife as I was driving through the mountains of Litchfield. In all honesty, the picture really doesn't do the view justice, especially that day, because even though I was dog tired that day, the view driving up this particular section of 118 was incredible. And yes, this was the view that inspired me to write a short story based on the 23rd Psalms.

This monument is on the town green (or at least for this section of town) that is found at the intersection of US 202 and CT 63 in historic Litchfield CT. This particular green was (and still is to a degree) known for anti-war protests that were held protesting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will admit that for the most part, even though I didn't agree with the protests, they were very orderly and didn't disrupt the flow of traffic. For those of you who are music aficionados, Litchfield is the home of the prestigious Jazz Festival.