What Is It About An Old Barn?

What Is It About An Old Barn?

 I was asked at a recent show, what is it about an old barn?  It was an open ended question that I didn't have a good answer for.  I went home and thought about it for a while.  Why is it that when I see an old barn I want to stop and drink it in? Not just the visual, there are many visual wonders to enjoy.  There was just something about an old barn that seemed familiar yet I could not touch.

 It took a few days for me to verbalize my thoughts.  In a roundabout way, an old barn is an old book.  For my fellow bibliophiles, you know what I mean.  An old book is more than just an object.  When you see that special old book on the shelf you are drawn to it. You look at the glorious binding. It could be faded but you see the craftsmanship. You pick it up and feel the texture and the material. You crack the binding and smell the age and history. Your mind begins to move toward thoughts and memories of stories past. You read the book and the ages and pages come alive and you are part of the story.

 The people may be gone but their presence still remains. We interact with the past through our memories and imagination. The history and lives of our past remain in old books and old barns.  They are not gone.