Yesterdays
We drove along Johnson Mesa on the morning of the low
clouds. The clouds created a sort of
yesterday feel to whatever we saw. And,
there is a history of Johnson Mesa that dates back to the 1880’s. Elijah Johnson was the first white settler on
the mesa, and he pastured cattle there.
In the late 1880’s, dissatisfied railroad workers and coal miners
settled there, and before too long, the entire mesa was filled with homesteads,
each of about 160 acres. However, due to
the long cold winters, and an influenza epidemic, the population dropped, and
kept dropping. Today, no one lives on
the mesa, altho some ranchers spend the summers here, tending to their
cattle. In fact, as we drove up onto the
mesa, there was a gate stating that the mesa would be closed off during
“inclement weather” – I think that means winter! But, for now, let’s take a look back to
yesterday…..
House in the Meadow
This was the first house we came upon. As I peered thru the trees at the house to
get the best view of this old homestead, I decided the best way to show off
this treasure was to convert the image to a black and white image, with a paper
texture to add to the vintage feel of the scene.
Along the Fence
As I mentioned above, some ranchers allow their cattle to graze
on the mesa. It’s getting close to the
end of summer, so these cattle will be making their way down to lower pastures
soon.
Down the Road
The road seemed to always be coming up to meet us out of
nowhere, due to the low clouds. Again,
this image, taken on a whim, reminded me of driving off into…….I don’t know
what.
The Old Farmstead
This old farmstead seemed to be one that may be used thru the
summer. I’m guessing that due to the
horses that were kept in a pasture close to the old cabin. Again, I converted this to a black and white
image with paper texture added, but then added back a bit of color.
Lonely Life
For this image, I left the image in color, but enhanced the
moody feel of the low clouds. It adds a
very lonely feel to the scene, and considering how few homesteads there are on
the mesa, that feeling is probably close to the reality of life on Johnson
Mesa.
Old Homestead
In this final image, I processed the image without any vintage
touches. I liked the texture on the
deserted cabin, and any vintage effect obliterated that texture. In this image, you can see the clouds are
beginning to lift (that’s why you can see another mesa in the background),
altho it’s still a very moody morning.
There’s more to come from Johnson Mesa, so……
Enjoy!
