Old Barn in Bennett Valley

I don't know how to introduce Kelly and Maureen anymore. They used to be our landlords when we rented the little farmhouse in Sebastopol from them, but quickly became good friends. Today met them for a walk in a regional park halfway between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, a busy place despite the drought.

Our first encounter was with a family with a little girl of about two or three, who was proudly carrying around her neck a pair of handcrafted binoculars--two toilet paper rolls stapled together. "Very high tech", said the father.

Next came a woman with a tiny dog--half Yorkshire Terrier and half Maltese--"A Morkie" The woman said they had lost their big black lab like Ozzie recently, and her daughter fell in love with this puppy. "Not so much", she said of her husband's relationship with the dog. "He won't even be seen with it..." she said pointing 100 feet ahead down the trail at a man quickly widening the gap.

A group of frisbee golf players were arriving as we came back to the parking lot. Maureen had seen them before, throwing frisbees at basket-like chain affairs. scattered around. "They're geeks", she said, "and they take it so seriously..." So seriously that two stout fellows were just finishing up their beers, the first of many, if their overheard conversation was to be believed...

Two women were brushing their horses outside two large, very elaborately fitted horse trailers...more like tack sheds on wheels. We see this sight quite often and I always wonder, "Why don't they just ride their horses to the park?"

On the way home we drove by several old barns and OilMan was feeling patient and stopped, so I could take pictures of several of them. This one was my favorite, I think because of the contrast between the pristine fence, the big newish house numbers on the deteriorating barn with a sign tacked to the front saying DO NOT ENTER.

Gotta love the country life.