I am joining Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha from A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales for her series, “Echoes of My Neighbourhood,” where she challenges us all to share a photo of bits and pieces of wherever you are at any point in time.

I live in a rural area in the Pacific Northwest.  For 3 of our seasons, you can pretty much count on the rain being somewhere in the weather forecast.  But I love the rain, every day of it, otherwise I wouldn’t live here.

Anyway, as I said, we’re very rural.  And on those long country roads, one sees various outbuildings just hanging about for no particular reason.  They’re small and they have a bench and they provide cover from the rain.  The only thing I can surmise is at one time, they were used by children waiting for the school bus.  But if I’m wrong and if someone knows their actual use, please shout it out.  It’s been a great mystery to me for years. Regardless, they come in a variety of shapes and colors and are quite fun to look at.

The following is actually a “free library” on the side of the road.  Donate a book, take a book, go sit on the bench and read a book.  The planters are gorgeous in the summer, filled with flowers and color.  Every spring the wood is touched up made to look new again which, in turn, makes the bench look super inviting.  What a fabulous idea to promote reading and re-use!  Kudos to the incredible people who created this!