The Old Barn

Dan and I are on the road… It’s a trip I don’t like taking under the best of circumstances. This isn’t the best of circumstances.  He wanted a companion while running an errand.  I guess, as his wife, that meant me.

At first, there’s resentment. I had a list of things I wanted to do and this was going to limit what I would accomplish.  It was hard to avoid the resentment. But, this is an hour and a half trip one way and that’s a long time to hold resentment. I can’t change things. All I can do is accept them.

Mindfully, I take slow deep breaths to ease the anxiety. I can feel my tense muscles slowly relax. He knows all the roads and he’s taking a scenic route.  Soon, I start to notice the view from the window.

Barns and cornfields fly past, interspersed with sections of wooded forest area. Houses with vehicles parked in front of them are scattered along the way.

Most of the time they blend in and I start to daydream. I may have traveled these roads before, but never often enough to make them familiar. Still, if you’ve traveled one country road, you’ve traveled them all.

… Then suddenly I am yanked back to reality. Through the hypnotic daze something stood out enough to be noticed.

I’ve always felt a bit of affinity toward barns. Some of them are boring and standard. Then there are some that are unique and stand out.

Maybe it’s the writer and poet in me, but I want to know their stories. What secrets do they hold? How long have they been around and how many families have they known?

Today, it’s a dilapidated old barn that captures my attention. Half of it has already come down, so there’s only a shell left. Time had stripped any paint that may have adorned it. What remains wouldn’t even offer shelter from a summer rain.

There are no houses nearby. Was this an out-barn for a very large farm at one time? Did it house animals or equipment? Why was it abandoned? What happened to the people who last stood within?

In a different world, I would have stopped and walked inside of it to “feel” the barn. Maybe I would have felt like I’d been transported back in time to a period when life was less hurried and simple.

But, in this world, someone would likely have turned me in for trespassing. And, Dan is driving. He’s in a hurry anyway. There’s no time for frivolity.

It’s a fun pastime to imagine the story behind the barn. It also takes away the resentment I felt at the beginning of the trip.

A happy life really is all about attitude.