Old Barns

The barn is long gone through neglect and just being old. Dad put the roof on the barn when he was in HS in late 20's early 30's maybe 1931? He was held on the steep sections by a rope tied around his waist and anchored on the other side of the barn by several grown men.  

It was located literally on the county line between Van Buren and Conway counties at a place called Formosa, AR. The county road in front of the house was the county line. Never was 120 acres a country unto itself to dozens of grand kids running around barefooted in the summer slaying dragons and making up ghost stories to act out in the barn hay loft. Fishing in the pond with red wasp larva and catching fish each one large enough to be a record, at least to us and our grand-dad. 

Good times? Yeah you could say that.

All of our cousins have fond memories of the barn and all the bonding that took place there. I think of it often these days and wish that one more trip could be made to the loft, one more play made up through committee and acted out, one more wasp nest taken down from the rafters, one more corn cob fight, one more summer of fun.

I don't know how many "one more"s I will be able to do as the best places of my youth and memories are mostly gone now. Few landmarks remain. Those that do remain are sometimes unrecognizable because of time and changing opinions and owner's whims.

I do wish for my grands and their kids, an old barn where they can play out adventures and make memories. We all need that in our lives. A place to retreat to in our heads where good times out weighed the bad and there is comfort in remembering.

Thank you cousins for making it so for me.

Until next time............................