The morning started out with the dog and me walking around the block. He had his nose to the ground and I had my eyes in the sky. I’m not sure what he was smelling but I was enjoying the end of the night, that nice time when night is starting to morph into day once again. The Moon and Mars were descending into the trees in the west and in the eastern sky, Venus and the bright star Regulus were working their way higher and higher. Regulus is a bright blue colored star but sitting next to the brilliant planet Venus, I could barely see it. I needed to squint to see it, the brightening sky didn’t help much either!
Ann Marie and I were going to take a drive into the Laurel Highlands to look at the colors of the changing trees. We also had plans on meeting some friends and exploring the Ligonier Farmers Market. This was going to be the last week of the season for the market and AMB and I had never been there. We were looking forward to seeing Bill and Diane, the market and the drive.
I ran into patches of fog on my way over to AMB’s house, a preview of the drive ahead.
I’m a sucker for fog, I love walking in it, I enjoy taking pictures in it and I don’t mind driving in it. I have happy memories of riding my bicycle through early morning fog on the bike trail along the Youghiogheny River. All I could see was what my light illuminated. The fog dampened the noises and occasionally I’d see bunnies hopping out of my way as I sped along. In those days when I was riding my bike daily, I rode to work many times in the fog and I enjoyed them all!
The sun came over the horizon just before I picked Ann Marie up.
We drove in and out of the fog, seeing wonderful views of sunlight coming through the trees and slicing into the fog lying below. Mists rose off the sides of the road in other places. We came across an accident possibly caused by the poor seeing, a single car with a smashed front end and a policeman keeping the road clear for us. The ride was filled with nice views, after all, we were driving through Pennsylvania!
Arriving at the farmers market, fog hovered above, hiding buildings on the near-by hill. It was rather surreal, a bunch of people walking around wearing masks and carrying flowers and vegetables with the rows of tents fading into the fog beyond.
We met up with Bill and Diane and cruised the market, getting some produce for the week ahead and some bread for the next day or so. The bread was thick crusted with cranberries and raisins in it. The insides were nice and soft, oh, this bread won’t last long! There were about 100 tents with vendors selling everything from flowers to jewelry. Wooden toys and cutting boards, honey, donuts, pottery, hand-made masks, signs and meats, there was something there for everyone. There were a lot of people there, more than AMB and I have experienced since the pandemic (pandDAMNic as AMB calls it) started. The majority of the people there were wearing masks.
After exploring the market we went into Ligonier itself and visited a couple stores and ate a really good breakfast/lunch at a nice restaurant called The Kitchen On Main. Sitting in the warm sun on the sidewalk sharing a meal with friends, we felt almost normal! (I know... me...normal, hard to grasp)
Bill and Diane went on to do other things and AMB and I started back towards home. We passed spots where sunlight illuminated the hills and trees while their surroundings were in the shadows of clouds, making the bright spots that much more noticeable. We commented on how the trees seemed to be more colorful on the way back than they were earlier in the day.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…We sure live in a beautiful state! Go out and explore it, you never know what you might find!
1 comment:
Good story nice shots
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