Former life forgotten

A barn’s lifetime of existence isn’t long enough. If it had a diary it would relate stories on a daily basis. Did the cows provide enough milk for the family? Did the sow have her piglets today? Did the cats find a new home in the hay? How many mice did they eat this week? How many pigeons claimed it as a home this month? Who are the other critters that live here? 

This barn signed off on the cattle, pigs, birds, mice, cats, and more, many years before this photo was taken in 1979. It was awaiting a death sentence before disappearing in the fog. The house was gone as well as the other buildings on the site, and this barn was destined to disappear, to be replaced by a field of corn.

Barns have a finite lifetime; some have more years, some less. Within a few months after these photos were taken, this barn in Union County along Highway 34, west of the Kent corner, disappeared. It exists now only in photos taken long ago.