The 21st Century Matriarch

We opted to drive to Maryland one last time…for the closing on the house there and last goodbyes to some favorite places. We started out shortly after 6:30 AM for the two-day drive – with a much longer drive on the 1st day. The first stop from Springfield was the Route 66 rest stop along I-44 near Conway. Our route was the interstate along the old Route 66 until St. Louis.

It was sunny and hot for most of the day – traversing Illinois and Indiana and most of Kentucky. The only big cities on the route were St. Louis and Louisville. We stopped in Ashland, KY for the night; we had driven out of the hot and dry Midwest and into rain. The last rest stop of the day (in Kentucky) was one that included oak leaf hydrangeas in their landscaping…reminding me that I want to plant one or two in my new yard.

The next day it rained…and rained. Most was not too heavy and did not delay us as we travelled through West Virginia and into Maryland. It did change the type of photography is did at the rest stops I switched to macro photography– lichen, moss, buds, insect, shelf fungus. I took several pictures from inside the car (since I wasn’t driving). Sidling Hill is more interesting from the highway than the eastward rest stop!

And then we were at our old house…more on the time we spent in Maryland tomorrow.

There are a range of unique aspects that I recorded in March:

It was the first time there were amorous cattle in a field that I drove by on my way from Springfield to Carrollton. I guess it is another sign of spring!

Seeing the spherical sculpture glow from within from reflected light at Brookside Gardens was something I had not anticipated….will now always look for again.

Seeing a bird on an empty suet feeder…then clearly seeing the under bright yellow feathers of a flicker as it flew away.

Starting to get our house ready to sell…touching up interior paint.

Being able to photograph the arch in St Louis from the bridge over the Mississippi when I was driving – it is one of the few times that I appreciated a construction delay that snarled traffic.