After a long winter of staying home followed by a few misadventures, it felt positively glorious to drive in the sunshine last night. While I was on a familiar road, I took a detour for a closer look at a couple of places I have driven by plenty of times but never stopped to photograph.
This old farm is one of them.
It reminded me of this quote by naturalist and writer Henry Beston:
An old farm is always more than the people under its roof. It is the past as well as the present, and vanished generations have built themselves into it as well as left their footsteps in the worn woodwork of the stair.
Don’t you wonder who left their footprints behind here? Old homes are not just wood and windows. The earth beneath our feet isn’t just dirt. A farm isn’t just a place to grow corn.
This place was once a home for someone, maybe for generations of a single family. While many people would claim it’s in the middle of nowhere, this farm was once the middle of everything to the people who labored sunrise to sundown just to make ends meet. To you, it’s just dirt. To the farmer who worked this land, it was pure potential.
What we look at determines what we see. What we plant determines what we harvest. What do you see around you? What seeds are you planting in this life? What goodness will you harvest from this life of yours?
You get once chance. Better make it count.
Houses like this one always make me sad. You can tell she was once a beauty and if this old girl could talk, I’m sure she would express shame for her current condition.
We finally have snow and I just can’t get enough of it. You notice things when there’s snow on the ground that you might not otherwise see. For example, I drive by this farm often but rarely appreciate the old farmhouse.