4.14.2011 Ride: Windows & Doors

I had planned another short ride today with a quick jaunt down to Harp's and back.  But after I was done with my errands and my panniers were loaded down, a longer ride seemed in order.  A 60+ mile ride awaits me Saturday and I hadn't really gotten in any muscle memory rides with gear in the past week.  Besides, despite the wind, the day was gorgeous and I had some good conversations at the store which always seems to inspire me to ride.  I headed down Starr Rd toward Wyman Rd and Wyman Valley Rd, one of my favorite stretches.

Abandoned House Trailer on Wyman Rd.

After taking the house trailer window, I came across the next building in very good repair with its sign in the window.

Nothing really extraordinary about advertising painting lessons except that this building sits on a very quiet country road that is part dirt (connects Wyman Rd and Hwy 16) with very little car traffic.  I believe that this is probably someone's studio as this building sits next to a nice 1 1/2 story brick home. 

This door with the glassless storm door caught my eye.  The door is located at the rear of a longish cinder block building that I suspect was a church at one time.




At Harp's, I talked with Angie and she was telling me how much she has been enjoying the pictures on the blog, especially of horses as she loves horses.  Since I already had a picture of Angie, I thought I would try and find some good horse pictures for her today.  I was afraid I might come up empty, equine-wise, but I knew if all else failed, I could probably get a picture of a horse in the pasture back in my neighborhood.  Riding down Wyman Valley Rd, I was hoping for something special and I was not disappointed.

 Palominos have always been one of my favorite horses.  Probably harking back to when I watched Roy Rogers as a kid and fell in love with his horse Trigger.  I was hoping that this horse would come close enough for me to pet but I was willing to settle for more distant shots.

 

It was a beautiful day and I was happy to be patient to see if he would come closer.  Since I already had a couple of shots of windows, a close-up of an eye seemed in order with eyes being the "window" to the soul.  He continued to keep his distance and I realized that I had my sunglasses on.  Taking my glasses off seemed to do the trick.

Be sure to check out the reflection.

This horse's brown companion had to come over to check things out.  We exchanged touches but he wasn't as interested in an intimate exchange as the Palomino.  About 40 feet away was a big black bull.  I don't know if he was jealous or braying out a warning but he kept mooing in our direction almost the entire time I spent time with the horses.

 

And, one more close up.  It was hard to leave this horse as he seemed to really want to interact.

Hope you enjoy these shots, Angie.

Today's Ride:  2hrs. 29mins.  25.21 miles.  67-77 degrees.  Wind: 22 gusting strongly into the 30s.
Miles YTD:  1,906.67