Fall Scenes from Holmes County

 

National Geographic just named Holmes County, Ohio as one of the most scenic spots in the world to see fall leaves, ranking third, behind Sonoma County, California, and Northern New Mexico.

 

I don't think the colors are as spectacular as in previous years here or here, but it might be a little early. We just had our first frost so maybe the best is yet to come.

 

I have lived here all my life and take this area for granted, but when I take time to slow down from life and just take in the sights around me, it is truly beautiful and I feel blessed to live here.

 

This might have been the most colorful tree we saw.

 

Holmes County is known most of all for being the largest Amish settlement in the world. Scenes like this are an everyday occurrence.

 

Holmes County has many, many miles of dirt roads and we love to see where each one takes us. 

 

 

I am very passionate about old abandoned buildings and when we came across this one I yelled....Stop! This is one of the most picturesque ones I have come across.

They may not look so pretty to some, but they are so full of history and stories, I wish it could tell me just one.

 

This home looks so empty and lonely. I'm sure it has stories to tell too.

 

We meandered along, from one country dirt road to another, some of them barely more than a cow path.

 

The only traffic we met was an occasional buggy.

 

 

 

 

The one thing I love about our area is all the beautiful old barns. 

 

 I love the old ones with their faded wood and lopsided walls.

 

 

The more run down and weathered, the more they appeal to me.

 

I even love the shabby doors and broken window panes.

 

 

 

While some of our surrounding counties are very flat, Holmes County is known for it's rolling hills.

 

An old Amish School House, I assume no longer in use. Sometime I would like doing a post of just Amish School Houses. There are dozens of them in our county.

 

 

 

 Our rolling hills open up to beautiful valleys.

 

 The last farm we happened upon as we headed home, completely captivated me. All the buildings were painted white or red, but had the same aqua colored roofs. Just loved it!

 

I didn't notice until I put this photo on here, but I pretty sure the dog house on the far left is painted to match.

 

The buggy barn. 

 

 I couldn't find a good place to get a shot of the side of this but yes....it has an aqua roof. I hope I can find this place again because I would love to take some photos of a few buildings that I didn't get.

 

So while there wasn't that much fall color yet, I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of  'where I come from'.