Some Days, You See the Darnedest Things on the Way to Work...

Sometimes what you see while commuting is a little more interesting:

Pretty sure this guy is waiting for the uptown local.
He's got that resigned yet at the same time impatient look of the veteran bus stop regular.

Now, I understand that for some folks, this is not an unusual thing to see during your daily commute, especially if you are a dairy farmer.  Of course normally a cow on the side of the road is associated with an open field or barn nearby, not woods, guard rail cables and a steep embankment.  So maybe this is an unusual sight for just about anyone.  I certainly wasn't the only one taking notice:

Note our Bovine hero in the center of the mirror.

Everyone passed at a very slow rate.  It really was hard to figure out where the cow had come from, in fact I never did.  This is on NY RT 206 in the Catskills and while there are many farms along the road, this particular stretch (near Walton, I believe) is pretty hilly and there was no obvious Dairy farm nearby.

I understand there is a lot of very excellent Mountain biking in the area, so maybe Ferdinand got inspried by some single trackers blasting through the woods and decided to try out some 4 legged cross country-ing of his own.

On the other hand, there is a Kraft factory in Walton.  I think they make Breakstones cottage cheese there.  Maybe he's on his way down to pick up the Mrs. after a her shift on the milk machine.

Of course he could also be looking for the cow version of this:

Yeah, I don't know what it means either.  I can say, whatever it is,
that they seem to have done it to helluva lot of Goats, if that number is any indication.

Now, I could of course Google this and put in a link with the real answer.

But I'd rather speculate.

Perhaps this the entrance to a Union Hall (local 12032, of course) for theatrically minded goats.  I think most goats are pretty big hams.  Or is that pigs?  I get my farm animals confused sometimes, which can lead to problems, especially at a kosher dish to pass.

Or maybe it's a secret anagram of "Gaga Bitingly Lost" with the numbers added as a meaningless misdirection.  God, I hope they find Gaga before she is bites again!


Another possibility is that this is a facility dedictated solely to handling Billy Goat #12032, although I was not aware they were all numbered.  


It's just so hard to know for sure.


And to keep to the Animal Theme:

For the uninitiated, this is a dog.

Alright, it's just an Australian sheep dog standing in an Oregon Winery.  Not that shocking really.  But he was very sweet and I know he could really use the publicity.  Nothing like an virtually unread blog to get your name out there!  And no, I don't remeber his name.


But getting back to the unexpected and surprising:

Canoe Canoe?

This almost made me crash the mighty little Scion!  It's big installation piece on display in front of the Albright-Knox gallery in Buffalo by Californian sculptor Nancy Rubins.  Apparently, deconstructed metal objects are her "canvas".  She has made things from airplanes, boats of all kinds, trailers various appliances and everything looks to be very large.


The whole thing is so surprising that it actually took me a few seconds to realize what it was made of.  It is an interesting take on "found object" art;  The canoes are as much "re-purposed" as they are found.  It is an incredible engineering feat, in addition to being compelling visually.  You should check it out.


Other surprising if less artistic views seen recently across the windshield include:

I did not know you could have them delivered.  But then this was taken in California...

This could also be called the intersection of difficult decisions.....

Anybody have any ideas as to what type of cuisine this might be?  I'm stumped.

Yep, that is a segway scooter on the back of a car

Caution: GIANT HOGWEED!

That last picture (I know it is lousy) is especially un-artistic.  It is of Giant Hogweed, an invasive species the sap of which can cause severe burns and even blindness.  The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has launched a consumer action program to help eradicate it.  It's nasty stuff but on the plus side, it did reminds me of the old Star Trek episode, "The Quest For Eden"  The relvant part comes at about 9:20 (you can skip ahead if you want to, but why would you want to?  THIS is art!):

And for our final non-artistic but certainly inspired image of the day, we take you to north eastern Pennsylvania, right along the even so beautiful route 80 corridor. 


Not sure if this is an advertisement, a suggestion or a particularly well funded attack on chickens in general:

Actually, I think the sign pretty much says it all....