There's a place in Mercer County, Kentucky, a bit southwest of Lexington, that keeps drawing me back. Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill is a historic old religious commune that dates back to the early 1800s, and although the Shakers died out in the early 1900s, thirty four of the original buildings still remain, a little less than half of which you can spend the night in.
After preservation efforts beginning in the 1960s, the place has been restored and is now a National Historic Landmark District. In addition to the old Shaker structures, there's thousands of acres of their old farmland and pasture crisscrossed with hiking paths.
<img src="https://i.ecency.com/DQmct5rd9xDuGiZ3pMwcDY4w3e1gBPvWD7tFV5QHwDDXnwt/fall_shaker_4_c_copy.jpg" alt="Fun fact: "Fence" is actually a bridge railing" />
My partner and I have been paying visits to Shaker Village for years but this year we set out to see it in all four of the seasons. Or at least what passes for seasons anymore. Fall was the last one on the list, just got back from checking it off the list on Wednesday.
The Shakers were noted for the quality of their handiwork and their buildings showcase this, but after a half dozen or more visits you start to get your fill of photos of them. That's part of why I love coming back, forces me to move past the surface level "this is XYZ building" shots and look for more of the essence of the place.
For me, it's the peace and quiet, the slowness that is a respite from the city go go go. Doubly important when planes start falling out of the city sky.
Photos are all from out most recent visit, it was goldilocks weather, a first for our visits there, and we had to put it to good use hiking.
Speaking of weather, it had the flora all out of sorts. This buckeye tree had already lost all its leaves, except where it was blooming six months out of season. Over in the orchard, some of the apple trees were spotted with the occasional bloom as well. Growing up, we knew that if the apple trees bloomed too early in the spring, a late frost would ruin your apple harvest, but I'm a bit puzzled what blooming in the fall means.
My partner is putting together a Polaroid project with their shots from the four seasons, will have to pull all my digital shots together and see what jumps out. While trying to identify a building in one of the Polaroids, I rediscovered some old Shaker Village posts from four and eight years ago. Weird to think I've been posting on here that long, much less about Shakertown.
A favorite pastime of mine here is to go on golden hour walks in the evening. The village sits atop a hill, so unless it is completely gloomy, the sunsets are usually something to see (and shoot).
We'll be back, albeit with a reduced frequency, that's probably about enough for one year. We'll see how next year shakes down.
