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A Walk WIth Mr. Sutor And Lily Lu

While I was back I just had to see my favorite hound dog, Ms. Lily Lu, who shares quarters with Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Sutor, of Sutor Woods.  That's their little cabin below. Trust me, you can't find this place.  I have the coordinates and have to navigate by North Star and sextant.  It's at the end of a dead end gravel road and I'm surprised they get mail, but there's a mail box so I guess the USPS does deliver to impossibly secluded outposts.  


I have several "Is this heaven?" locations.  This is one of them, maybe even at the top of the list, besides Mark and Holly's screened-in porch.  Here you are as far away from the maddening crowd as I can imagine.  If you like nature, then this is the place because nature rules this place.  From here Mr. and Mrs. Jeff can see any manner of critter,  the stars in the heavens without ambient light, and weather that would frighten storm chasers.  In the winter be prepared to spend a few days on your own since you are miles from anywhere and lowest on the priority list at AmerenIP or the plows.  



It was only natural that I asked Jeff about a nearby road that always looked interesting and in one picture even haunted.  (OK, I went back to look at the picture I took in 2011 that looked like there was a lady bending down beseeching me to follow at the end of the path, but it no longer looks like she is there, which means it was haunted all along, right?)  So, being the gentleman he is, and because Lily Lu wanted to go for a walk off we went, camera in hand.  


This is Lily Lu, a wonderfully loopy pup who does her own backyard landscaping and wood chipping.  



The path, as it turns out, remains officially on the books as a public road.   Its public use has long since been diverted elsewhere.  There is a bridge at the bottom of the ravine that was built by FDR's WPA.  I don't suppose this farm building has been used for a long time.



Disregard that "No Trespassing" sign,  officially this is a public access road, although it doesn't go anywhere.   Cows appear to be the only ones who travel this road anymore.  Watch out for their treasures along the path.  Jeff prepares Lily for launching.




What is it about hidden paths that excite people?  The mystery, the correlation to life, the commune with nature?  I don't know.  But these roads are damn cool.






Walk over, I head back to civilization (sigh) and notice the hawk on the round bale.  My zoom doesn't zoom all that well, but Jeff tells me these birds are not skittish with the occasional vehicle driving by but rather when those vehicles stop.  Then they fly away.  Sure enough, I stopped and this guy decides not to sit and pose for his portrait.  





Seeing if I am driving by or slowing he keeps an eye on me, only...


...to get spooked by a slowing blue Ranger pickup and then decides to play hide-and-seek.  
There's an old saying, "You can't put a price on a good time."  I'd paraphrase that when I'm out here at the end of the world.  "You can't put a price on a lifestyle."  Jeff and Carol have found Paradise. 


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