Barns and other outbuildings

In one of my neighbors' back yard. To all appearances this was once part of an operating farm, but no longer.

I may have shown you this barn before .

Beside the parsonage for St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Fernando, Minnesota.

This is our story, but I don't think it's unusual.... Paul Bennett was 30ish when he bought a few acres north of Dewitt. He had a growing family and a full-time job at Oldsmobile, but had grown up on a farm and wanted his own. He planted crops for a over a decade, but the day job was paying the bills and none of the mostly-grown kids planned to become farmers. By the late '70s, when I was first courting Joan, the field had been leased to a neighbor and the family's only farm activity, besides the veggie garden, was raising chickens. The barn was healthy enough to justify a new roof a couple decades ago, but by that time it was mainly used for miscellaneous storage. As with many Michigan farmyards, the Bennett farm's active shelter has long been a pole barn. Paul retired from GM in the early 1990s. He never seriously considered resuming the heavy work of planting and harvesting. Unfortunately, this made the barn's upkeep an expensive luxury. Paul and Thelma willingly put money into maintaining the house, but let the barn deteriorate. A few years ago Paul was talking about letting the firefighters burn the old barn, but never made the call. Eventually the wind will help gravity do the place in. We'll be sad, but not enough to save it.

Over a farm on Cochran Road, Eaton County, Michigan.

Two crops of the same photo, today. The other's here .

Two farms, on the highest point in the neighborhood. This is about a mile out of town and both places can be seen from my yard. Both families are actively farming. The barn on the left is now gone and has been replaced with a pole barn.

I've shown you this structure before. It still hasn't fallen. We're all amazed. Same photo in color .

Another version of the same photo. Also available in B&W .

Or sheds, I suppose. On M-43, near Grand Ledge. The light on these structures is often delightful, and I keep promising myself I'll take more photos of them. But the traffic levels on Grand Ledge Highway are a problem.... Another view , from a few years back.

Peter Anthony requested a higher-resolution copy of this photo . Since that version's both cropped and processed (saturation pushed slightly; light unsharp masking applied), I've decided to upload the original, unedited photo for his convenience. (I see my comments say I darkened it a bit, too.) This is my most popular photo, judging by reuse requests (as opposed to views or comments or favorites or "interestingness" , though it also ranks high in all of thosel). Like many other flickrers, I'm occasionally surprised by what becomes popular. Not to say I don't like the photo. But it is the very definition of a snapshot: I stopped the car in mid-road, opened the window, pointed the (point & shoot) camera, and pressed the shutter release. Anyway, Peter, here's the original. Go for it. Looking forward to reading the book.

A change of pace from the flowers and snaps. Joan and I visited her mom last weekend, then wandered the farm. Joan took along her new Nikon 1; I just carried the Cybershot.