Of road trips, barns and fields

I haven't had this hectic a weekend in recent times. Its Sunday evening already and I have to gear up for the week ahead which by all means is going to be much tougher than the weekend that was.

I have wanted to blog all week and had to keep postponing it to the weekend, which miraculously has come and gone leaving me with body aches, heartaches and a long list of things to be done before midnight. Uff!!

We went on a small trip to Pittsburgh which is in neighboring Pennsylvania. Many of you might have already heard of the city for it is home to the famous (for us Indians at least) Venkateswara temple.

The trip was memorable as it was the first long distance trip for my two little nephews, and we had never been to Pittsburgh before either. Its 350 miles from here and takes 6 hours by car if you go non-stop. But when you are with two little kids that is not possible. And so it took us a little more than 7 hours.

My nephews were so well behaved! The journey was lovely with the sun keeping us company across green pastures, colorful fields and all variety of livestock.

But what do you think caught the eye of my two and a half year old cousin? Big colorful trucks! Oh he was so happy! If he only knew how to count he could have counted each and every one that came our way! My!

I loved looking at the old-fashioned farms with their big red and black barns, grain silos, tractors, and cute outhouses under big spring trees. It all looked like a scene out of a story book. I so wish I could have taken one photo to share with you guys. But we never could stop at the right places..

It was lovely though! Lazy cows, some grazing, some nibbling and some simply taking in the sun and digesting the remnants of their meal; Big, curious sheep with bulging tummies; Raunchy, handsome horses; And those picturesque plateaus with houses dotting the view.

Scenes that will stay with me a long time and make me wish I could visit one of them sometime in the future.

Somehow it reminded me of the time I went bird-watching in a national park in Tamil Nadu, as a kid. It was wonderful! Although we could spot just a few variety of birds, we caught sight of many surprises en route. Like hundred different kinds of spiders. Fox prints. Shy deers. Blooming wild flowers in their glory. Animals native to that habitat. Our guide was very patient and took pains to make us appreciate the balance in the whole food web. The weather turned bad before we could venture deeper and we had to cut short our wonderful trip. But I always remember the joy and wonder it roused in my heart. And strangely, peace.