Still seeing more wood creatures:   or to quote a Jethro Tull lyric, maybe I've been drinking to deep from "the cup of crimson wonder".    

Todays two images are simply titled AMERICAN RURAL ROMANTIC 1 AND AMERICAN RURAL ROMANTIC 2.
I chose those titles because I really feel these two images present an idealized/romantic view that so many people have in, and out of, the United States  of what rural or country life entails.   So many people have told me, once they learned that I grew up on a farm, "Oh that must have been a lovely existence," "the wide open spaces," "the simple life" etc.   

But that has always been problematic for me in the same way that people at a funeral will only say positive uplifting things about the deceased, even if the deceased was a "bastard" that committed criminal acts.     The truth is, with all romanticism there is a dark side, a truth that people either ignore or just fail to see, or understand.   Here's the facts:  growing up on a farm is very difficult.  Like any existence it has its "plus" side but it is extremely hard work, long hours, unpredictable schedules, lonely, a battle between man, nature and economic fortunes.   

One of the things I've always loved about David Lynch's films is that they often will start with a bucolic, romantic ideal and then quickly delve into the under belly of that existence.  These two images today hint at that.   If you look beyond the beauty of the scene you will see problems in each image.   Problems with the structures and in the first image problems with the setting.   Structures are starting to fall apart and weeds have started to grow.   And in the case of the second image the tree itself is a symbol of a turn for the worst as all the leaves have fallen from it's limbs as it will struggle to make it through the winter months.   Only time will tell if it will survive yet another winter.     So the problem with Romanticism is that it's really not very romantic.   It is a failure to confront the truth.  It just tries to coat over the truth like frosting covers a cake.  It doesn't take much to scrape it aside to see what's left.  Reality - you may be able to "have your cake and eat it too" but it will be without frosting.