The Bennett Farm

Taken at Joan's parents' house while we were working on their patio. The close-by corn is Edna's (that's Joan's sister); the field is on the neighboring farm....

We spent Sunday evening at the family farm, celebrating Joan's father's birthday. The late-afternoon sun was making things interesting, so I wandered the yard looking for photographs. The farm has a small vineyard. Evidently the birds have been harvesting the vine--as each bunch ripens, they pick it clean. By the time we arrived, the only survivors were at the north end of the garden. Presumably, by now, these last few are gone.... ============= A bit over-processed, but I like the effect.

It sags. Just a little. Bennett family farm, St. Johns, Michigan.

Best in the larger sizes.... Across the road (and the field) from Joan's parents' farm. Surprisingly colorful, still, this afternoon....

According to the Bennett "kids"--the youngest is now over 40--Paul would buy a bunch of seedlings each year, and the kids would plant them along the edges of the field (it's 60 acres, more or less). Not their favorite chore, I gather, though they recall it as an annual adventure. It was worth it....

The outbuildings at the farm get visibly closer to collapse every time we visit.

The Bennett farm, near St. Johns, Michigan.

Another of Taffy 's litter-mates. Unlike Romeo , Goldie's an extremely shy cat, so I don't get many opportunities to photograph him. So we'll settle for this not-particularly-sharp photo.

Taffy's sister. Like Goldie, Cali's unlikely to show up when we visit Joan's parents--but Goldie's shy, while Cali's just uninterested in visitors. When she deigns to leave the sewing room, she's friendly enough.

Working the Schneeberger farm. We were building a sidewalk for Joan's father.

It's not gonna make it. Bennett farm, near St. Johns, Michigan.

On the barn at the Bennett farm; near St. Johns, Michigan.

Slowly collapsing at the Bennett farm. One of these days it's gonna speed up. Compare this 2004 photo ....

Inside the Bennett barn. Near St. Johns, Michigan.

Joan's parents' farm, July 4, 2006. The ramp and the sidewalk were perhaps two weeks old; we were building the patio.

One of these days we're going to find this building has collapsed.

I may have shown you this barn before .

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.