I Love Cows

Cow in Black and White with Curves                                                                                photo by elizabeth gordon

My Grandmother had a dairy which she built to take care of her four kids and a disabled husband during the great depression.  She named her cows Susie...all her cows were named Susie.  My Mother told  me when I was five I would beg to stop whenever I saw a cow.  I loved their big soft kind eyes, their slow moving grace, and  a kind of ageless presence.  Cows are beautiful and they are one of everyones favorite animals.  We see them in paintings and pastoral scenes throughout the ages.
I loved this photo.  I took it on the way to buy milk ironically. I stopped in the middle of the road, not so safely I might add, but I did get the shot.  Her head is low, her gaze is steady, her mood is ever peaceful.  

Good Morning Blue Ridge Mountains!

I thought you might like a virtual trip up my mountain and to the Asheville studio. This is the deck of the house, it wraps around the front and side. The finches and hummingbirds are waiting for me to fill their feeders. The deck needs sweeping and the umbrella unfurled. The days are warm and nights cool. The crickets sing me to sleep every night. This morning I have the fireplace on to take the chill off.

This is our road. It is a gravel road and steep in parts. The summer rains work on washing it away, but it is repaired and ready for winter. Last winter my neighbors were snowed in for two weeks. Every season here is as different in contrast as the last. Now we are in transition, from summer to fall. The leaves are beginning to turn, little bits here and there. I see reds out in some kinds of trees.

The is the view from one part of my road. The mountains really do have a blue cast, hence, the name Blue Ridge. Actually we are in the areas of Blue Ridge and the Smokey Mountains. Several well know movies have been filmed in this area...one of which is the Last of the Mohigans with Daniel Day Lewis. The native Americans that were in this area, and are still a presence, are the Cherokee. I am very please to know I have some Cherokee heritage as well.

When we chose this area, we looked in two areas, one West one East of Asheville. One was a tourist area and one a family farm area. We chose the family farm area. I didn't need country clubs, and golf courses. I needed nature and the down to Earth people of the Earth. I love driving through the back roads looking at the farms and growing crops. Right now the farmers are growing lots of corn for their cows for winter. One of my favorite drives is on a road called Potato Creek, it winds and climbs up to beautiful vistas.