The Echoes

"The Barn and the Wild Flowers"  copyright 2011 by Caris Cerdwyn, All Rights Reserved

     What are those purple flowers that come out this time of year here in upstate New York?  I'm not sure.  but there's goldenrod and Queen Anne's Lace, and lots of grass, and probably some sort of ivy growing on the barn.  It's a lovely scene isn't it?  A common scene around these parts, those old barns that remain standing long after they are useful.  I love the sight of them.  And I like to think about the people who built them so many years ago.  What were their lives like?  Who were they?  What and who did they love most in this world?  What kind of animals did the barns house?  Were there children who played in the hayloft?
     Those old barns have echoes in them...echoes of another time.  Laughter shared there, tears wept, anger expressed.  Calves and chicks and colts being born there over the years.  The milking done every morning.  The chickens fed.  the animals tended to.  Did hobos sleep there when they passed through back in the depression years?  Was the farmer who owned the barn, probably several over the years, so were they kind?  angry?  a mixture?  Were they people of faith?  And did he have a wife and children?  And what was she like?  The woman, the women who came to the barn each morning to help with the chores?  There are so many untold stories of seemingly ordinary lives, that had their drama, the heartaches, their secrets.
     Next time you pass one of those old barns, think on it a bit.  So many stories...