As luck would have it the small crew arrives shortly after I return to my car. I climb the small hill, back up to the old barnyard and the crew chief says, "Hi." I return the greeting and explain that I've been photographing the barn for the last year or so and that I'm happy to see that they are dismantling as opposed to demolishing the structure.
Every Sunday The Farmers Wife posts an entry entitled, "Faith." Faith encompasses so much more than simply organized religion and worship. There is a faith born of age and experience that, no matter how trite it may sound, means that life unfolds as it should.
At some point a friend suggested that I form a grassroots effort to save the barn. Our village board ordered a study by a group of professionals to assess the possibility of converting the barn to our village hall and community center. Regardless of the fact that the barn was basically sound, it would still require $1 million dollars to transform it to a useable space. Our tiny community of less than 700 people does not have type of money. With only 2 businesses and only one of those producing sales tax revenue, we struggle to maintain the 8 miles of roadway that are our responsibility.
The farmer has long retired or moved on, and for the last few years, before the farmhouse was torn down, this has been rental property.
I turn back to the crew chief and he tells me what I never suspected.
3 comments:
. . . and thereby hangs a tale!
The fact that you've titled this post "Phoenix" gives a hint, methinks, of the rest of the story. I suppose I'll have to wait until tomorrow at the soonest to learn it. Dagnabit!
C'mon, don't leave us hanging like this! I can't handle this on a Monday :)
What? What? You have no idea how hard it is to deal with cliff hangers.
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