70 degrees in March? Let's get scootin'...

And I did! Me and my Tree Walker Coon Hound, Buster, scooted (well, he ran alongside!) up our road to a dirt/gravel road that leads back to an unoccupied Amish farm. Actually English own it now, but they live in the northern part of Ohio and rarely come down. It is basically abandoned 99% of the year.

When we first moved out here the Amish family that started up our two markets lived there. On their property was an old, ramshackle cottage that was the first bakery in the area. Then they built a 2 story, 7 bedroom house and a smaller cottage for "O-Paw and O-Maw". What we could call a "mother-in-law" house next to the family big house.

Also on the property is a huge barn, a dairy milking parlor, a stable, and a few other work sheds. The acreage is huge but the property itself is basically devoid of life, human and animal.

Occasionally on my rides (or hikes) back there I will see a deer in the field or maybe a squirrel. I also see Coyote scat, but no other animals or people. It is a beautiful location, but kind of sad since the Amish family that originally owned it moved to Michigan.

My first introduction to this family when I moved out here 7 years ago was kind of bizarre. I was coming up the main road in the dark one summer evening. Actually, it was just twilight when you can still see shadows in the fields. I was going slowly, expecting deer to run out in front of my car, but "lo and behold" I spied a bay pony in the road in front of me!

So what now? I got out of my car, flashers left on for safety, and tried to coax the pony to come to me. He had no harness on, so I was hoping really to just get him to run into a nearby field. At least get off the road, you goofy nag! Well, he took off running down the dirt road toward the Amish farm and I followed behind him in the car, lighting his way and more or less herding him into the farm yard.

Once he had run off behind the main farm house I knocked on the "O-Paw" door and alerted the Amish farmer to the fact that his horse was lounging out on the road and awaiting vehicular death in the dark! Anyway, he thanked me and quickly set out with a kerosene lantern to look for the beast and stable him.

Anyway, 5 years later this attorney who bought the property proclaimed to the neighbors at the annual road party that he was going to set up a wildlife preserve. He was going to bring in zebras, buffalo, Ostriches, and other exotic critters. Seemed odd to me and folks rolled their eyes behind his back when he talked about it.

Thank goodness it has never happened! After a few years he approached us and offered to rent the house, wanting property caregivers and we considered it. We toured the huge house, but thought it was way too big for our needs. It was beautiful inside with hardwood floors, an eat-in kitchen, and a huge full front porch.

But it felt too far off the beaten path for our taste. Also, it had no electricity and fuel oil heat, which is very expensive. He was going to wire the house if we rented it, but we passed on the offer.

But it's a great place to do a quick scoot where my dog can run along with me and there is no traffic. The road back onto the property is about a mile and curves down and around a pond and up into the farmyard. There is a big picnic table under a tree and I have spent some happy times there with a book or yakking on my cell phone to friends. A nice get away place.

My ride today was spontaneous and I rode in a tee shirt, shorts (yes, a helmet, always), sneakers and gloves. It was a slow ride on a warm day and the scoot purred along happily. And so did I and my Buster dog!