Simple things
In my hometown farming and ranching community of Kingsville, Texas, barns were like backyard mosquitoes. Here in San Diego, even in the rural areas, barns are not all that common. The cost of land pretty much precludes them.
In June 1999 I bought a hillside home here in Spring Valley. It was what one of my friends called an executive home — 4,000 square feet, 1.84 acres, 40,000 gallon heated swimming pool, 15,000-gallon spa.
After living there for a few months, I gave executive home a new definition: so big that one needs to hire employees to run the place.
Fun, but not really me, and the fun wore off due to everyday maintenance issues. If I did things myself, I had no time left. If I hired others to do it, I had no money left. I only stayed for two years.
When I had my housewarming party, one of my friends came down from San Francisco. He had been born and raised in San Francisco and had never seen a barn outside of pictures, TV, and movies.
The road from San Diego’s airport to my place was through the suburbs, where houses actually have a little land separating them. Nothing like the Victorian row houses in San Francisco.
Joe’s flight was scheduled to arrive at 2:00 p.m. I gave him two hours to get to my place — late flight, rental car, baggage pickup….. He didn’t arrive until almost 7:00 p.m. When I asked him why he was so late, he had just four words to say:
“I saw a barn!”
Here is that barn:
Joe had spent a couple of hours driving all over the neighborhood to see firsthand what a suburban rural area — ranch-style houses with land, barns, chickens — looked like.
Simple things can really excite a person if they have never been seen or done before.
I was over in my old neighborhood for a home inspection last week and saw that the barn had been renovated — looking pretty spiffy — so I U-turned to get a picture of it. I emailed it to Joe.
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Posted on July 17, 2012, in Photos, Picture of the Moment and tagged big red barn pictures. Bookmark the permalink. 12 Comments.
Kind of like living here in Floresville and kids in this town (you I know get this) have never touched a horse… They spend the whole lesson touching, in total awe! :O
“.”
Cat
hard to believe the scarcity of barns – Kingsville, Ontario has a lot too – being an agricultural area – we also seem to have the most greenhouses in the world
Now that’s a barn, color and all.
Blessings – Maxi
What a lovely barn, Russel. Very photogenic indeed.
I love barns, especially old ones!
Very cool! I even like houses built like barns.
I think this is a cool Barn
This post took my back to my childhood – a farm in Saskatchewan. Dry there too, but likely not as dry as Texas.
Nice barn. I love barns old, new, shabby no matter the condition I just love them and love pictures of them.
$5.95 paw.
ah barns, having attended university (allegedly attended at any rate) in the great and glorious state of kansas, the one thing i can say admiringly about barns (ahem) shall go unstated! nice shot!
I grew up on a farm and presently own a “farmette” with a white bank barn in a rural area of the Eastern U.S. Barns and other ‘country’ things are frequent in my photography too. Just love it!! I can certainly understand the attraction to others who don’t see these things often; because even though I own a barn, I admire others’ barns too!!
It truly is the ‘simple things’ in life that make the journey so much sweeter! I’m learning that even more as I get older.