Thursday, September 24, 2009

Things Seen on Farm To Market Road East of Donnelly

For the past several weeks, Idaho State Highway 55 thru Donnelly has been torn up by construction, so as I wend my way to Cascade on my weekly round of appointments, I’ve started taking the long way round on the aptly-named Farm To Market Road. This road runs all the way back to McCall & eventually intersects with Highway 55 south of Donnelly—along the way, you pass thru historic Roseberry, a partially restored settlement that dated back to the very early 20th century—venerable by local standards. On either side of Roseberry, there are pastures & pines & locusts & creeks & cattle—Idaho bucolic in all its beauty. These are some of the things I’ve seen.

  • Behind a whitewashed fence (in serious need of re-painting), a wood bench swing hung by chain from a locust tree
  • The water in a cattail-lined irrigation ditch turned blue by the reflected sky
  • A sheet of fog rising from a hilltop to the east shimmering a spectral white in the morning sun
  • A faded red barn
  • A large slab of gray driftwood erected as a sculpture in front of an old white house with a red tin roof
  • Mulleins lining both sides of Farm To Market Road, some taller than a man, growing from the gravel
  • Cordwood rounds laid out in a large circle in a pasture
  • On the other side of a creek, more cordwood—maybe about a quarter of a cord—stacked & surrounded by cattle
  • A pasture with at least a dozen skeletal dead & white pines, the bark peeling from them in dark gray layers
  • Four turkey buzzards circling high over the pasture, riding thermals & never flapping their wings
  • A black metal sign in the shape of a large, wooly sheep at the end of a gravel driveway
  • A yellow highway sign saying “Bridge Out” in the midst of a pasture lane
  • The locusts trees lining the road with leaves turning yellow from the trees’ crowns down, but still green toward the trunk
  • The bandstand at Roseberry, painted red & white, with pastures & piney hills in the distance
  • An Amish buggy parked next to a green plastic garbage can; the can rests on an old-fashioned wooden two-wheel hand truck
  • The Roseberry General Store at the intersection of East Roseberry & Farm To Market Roads—an old yellow Shell pump & two rusty old red wagons being used as planters
  • A red fox waiting for my car to pass before crossing Farm To Market Road in Roseberry
  • A black 1919 Model T for sale
  • A pasture gate fashioned from two tall, weathered cedar posts & a strand of barbed wire
  • Cedar split fence posts leaning at such an angle they almost touch
  • A mound of earth & squared stones—an old foundation
  • An abandoned osprey
  • A red fox standing on a stack of large round hay bales
  • A single-wide trailer under a weathered green tin roof; icicle Christmas lights dangle (unlit) from the roof—an array of electrical transformers across the road












11 comments:

  1. I find that nothing has the ability to transport me to a place I have never visited and have no knowledge of more than your "Things seen" posts. Love them.

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  2. Hi Alan & Jacqueline: So glad you like these posts--it had been awhile; will try not to have them out of the rotation so long in the future!

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  3. You remind me of something I've seen driving round hereabouts. In the UK there is a "warning - sheep" sign - a black silhouette of a sheep on a white background surrounded by a red triangle. There's one not too far away on a bleak hill-top which, with the help of a black felt-tip, has been skillfully transformed into a "warning rhinoceros" sign instead! I keep meaning to photograph it.

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  4. Hi Dominic: I'd love to see the rhinoceros warning sign!

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  5. oh, how wonderful - makes me wanna pack my bags and head west - so nice of you to take us along your ride through heaven!

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  6. Hi Jenean: It's beautiful out here in the Wild West for sure!

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  7. wondering if there is more than one Farm To Market Rd....? possible. Is your Farm To Market the one that originates out of Midvale? If so, you are very close to our place. still no facts or even rumors on the fire. will keep you posted

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  8. Hi Heather:

    This one runs from McCall east of Donnelly--interesting that there's another one by Midvale. I've heard nothing about the fire/smoke situation either.

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  9. I love that the road is call farm to market road!!!

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  10. Hi Mouse: Thanks for stopping by! I just found out there's another Farm to Market Road between two towns to the south of us.

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