I think I might love old barns even more than I love old homes. There’s a certain rawness and originality to an old barn. Most assuredly, no one ever tried to “pretty up” a barn. A roof leak would be attended to, but curtains and fresh paint inside? Not a chance. There’s not much style to an old barn and certainly no entertaining within its walls.
Because of this, barns more closely reflect the age in which
they were made. They also reflect the
needs of the people during the time when they were built, which have most
likely changed as the decades, and even centuries, have gone by. The old barn says, “Yes, I was built for a
cow, two horses, a handful of sheep, and several chickens.” As the years tick by, the old barn still says
the same thing.
 |
| Still waiting to serve. |
Used to be everyone had a barn of some sort. How could a proper household function without
one? Now they’ve been replaced by sheds
for tools and garages for vehicles, but the sheds and garages don’t quite have
that air of “I’m home” to them. No,
sheds and garages are necessary and helpful buildings, but who ever says, “I’m
going out to the shed (or garage) for a bit?”
The old barn held the animals, some of which were friends, and
certainly held the life experiences (like the first kiss!). It’s just not the same in a shed or garage.
There’s a purpose to a barn, a real sense of accomplishment
and commitment that has to be met every day.
The barn gives you a reason to get up in the morning. The shed and garage do not. The barn shelters your assets. The shed and garage shelter your
liabilities. There’s a huge difference
between the two, but most people seem to have forgotten that and get them
confused, if they think about them at all.
Tick tock goes the clock, day after day and year after
year. It’s oddly comforting to know that
the barn still says, “Yes, I was built for a cow, two horses, a handful of
sheep, and several chickens.”
