Winter is coming

This is beautiful country with rolling hills, narrow valleys, and winding streams, punctuated with farms throughout. We went traveling following our GPS system over to my younger brother Gary's farm the other day. The GPS system took us over several of these winding roads through the hills, and after several turns and twists we actually arrived at his farm. We had been there only two times before and could not exactly remember the way to get there so appreciated the GPS system.

On the way there we noticed that leaves were beginning to turn, and the Farmer's Almanac predicts and early and long winter in this part of the world this year. The leaves are turning early this year and that supports the almanac's prediction.

We later on went on a brief nostalgia trip to see where my grandmother, her two sisters, and their parents had lived. The great grandparent's place was mostly gone, although two of the barns remain standing. The other three places were still there and in reasonable condition. As we traveled through these rolling hills, we were reminded that this part of New York is in the most northern part of the Apalachian Mountains and is really very rural. It is fun so see signs like Wade Hollow Road and others and to realize that "hollow" means a narrow valley here just as it does in Tennessee or West Virginia.

When this are was settled in the 1700's the woods were chopped down to create fields to be farmed, and most of this country provided subsistence farming, especially on the hills. The valleys are still farmed to some degree to this day, but remnants of farms are everywhere. The amazing thing is that the trees have taken back the hillsides, making it difficult to believe that anyone ever lived there or tried to farm there. This country side is poor, and Tioga County, which we are in, is the poorest county of all the 63 counties in the state. The people here are kind, look after their neighbors, family, and friends, and drive around these twisting country roads very fast. They frequently pass us. We were driving down a glen road and missed a buck deer by inches as he decided to jump the road just as we drove by. We have seen flocks of wild turkeys and many indigenous birds. It has been a treat to revisit scenes of my childhood and to visit with relatives and friends. Fifty-two years is a long time to no longer live in a place. But the memories last for a lifetime.