Just A Few More Barn Books ...

Ok, I've given up on building that stable in England that I was dreaming about. But what a delightful time I had looking at the properties "for sale" in that beautiful country. There were so many that offered such a magnificent lifestyle for the horses ... and me.

Have you ever searched those sites and seen some of the castles those horses live in? You really must try it sometime.

But here I am in my abode far from my fantasy and I'm now on to another interest ... old barns of America.

I made a trip to the library to gather an armload of books about the barns built during those years so long ago and about the lives that had been such a large part of our American history.

So, getting all cozy on the couch and covered with animals ... I began to look at these wonderful barn books and wondering what stories they could tell me.

Page by page presented more and more questions. I wondered what kind of animals lived there. Did they have any Percherons? Did the children learn to drive those gentle giants when they were barely knee high to the horses?

I have always had a fascination for barns and have traveled many places taking photos of old barns. Some were still standing in all their glory, some tilting from the winds they have endured over the centuries.

But the barns I found truly interesting were the ones that were but a shell of their past, only remnants of the life once lived. Tall grasses were growing through the broken windows and the barn doors were no more.

Each book on the floor beside me had a character all its own.
Each barn a story.

I thought about my grandparents who had left Denmark to homestead in North Dakota, so very near the Canadian border. Through their determination and courage they built a sod house for their then four children on the barren unturned soil. They weathered the storms to live out there dream in a new country.

In time, there were 7 children, a farm house and a magnificent barn, which is still standing and remains a landmark in the area. It was in this barn that my father worked as a child and helped to care for the horses.

And, today, it is that same barn which still proudly stands ... filled with the memories of days long past.

Each book held me captive with pages of interesting designs,
beautiful locations ... and unique histories.

In many of the photographs, I felt a loneliness for the cold of winter
and the beauty of the fresh fallen snow I had known as a child.

Then I came to the last book.
I was in trouble again.

It seems I ended up where I began ...
dreaming of a barn so beautiful I could claim any stall for myself.

But to be honest ...
I think I'd rather have that old barn in North Dakota.

My grandfather's barn ...

It's such a part of me.

~~~