I grew up in a rural area. It was a long time ago. A very long time ago. A lot has changed since then. I had no idea.

The trip began innocently enough. A sunny autumn day, driving through the countryside. Typical rural scenes…

Trees, meadows, sky. Memories – nostalgia…

It looks like “nature” but it’s pretty easy to see signs of man. Fences, fields…

And of course, where there are fields, there are cows.

And where there are cows, there are farms. But this is where things took a turn for the unexpected. Things have changed from when I was a lad. Now, when you drive in the countryside, you see 100 year old barns alongside … solar panels.

And in some places, you see giant solar farms, mixed in among the more traditional “farms”.

And then you begin to notice the large, very expensive houses in the otherwise traditional rural environment.

And somewhere around here is the point where I begin to feel rather curmudgeonly and … sigh… very old.