Bank Barn Beauty

I have only been alive three decades, but even in this short time I have seen bank barns that were once sprawled across the countryside, adding to the scenery of rural living, slowly declining in numbers or becoming completely irreparable as the years pass.  Simply put, they are vanishing before our eyes.
 
Chances are never missed when driving near or far, to scope out the landscape and enjoy the farmland, scattered with farms from various commodities.  As new barns are built everywhere, it brings a smile to my face to see that some modern day farmers still choose to keep the old barns in fine care.  Just like computers and phones change annually, agriculture has modern technology that has made farming a lot easier and production more efficient.  In some cases it makes more sense to tear it down, sell the barn board and beams to those who repurpose, and re-build out buildings that work in this day and age.  However, most farmers hold onto the past and love the aesthetic value of an old bank barn, just like I do!  If they can repair and make use of it, as well as expand their business with new buildings, they will.   In most cases, the ones we see falling down are ones that have been sold to developers or the land that was once the home of a family farm has been bought out by a farmer that just frankly needs the land.    
 
Visiting a farm that still puts an old bank barn to use brings me a tremendous amount of joy.  As soon as they stop being used (generally for livestock and crop storage) they slowly fall apart, the walls begin to cave and the stones begin to shift rapidly.  If they can be turned into event venues or on-farm markets these are often quite popular to the public.  They hold a quality that is rarely seen any longer.  The post and beam framing is historic and the buildings were handmade by groups of men local to their area.  I often stop and become a nosy passerby, snapping photos of these beautiful buildings that were built solely by teamwork, while pretending I don’t see the “No Trespassing” signs.   
 
When dining at a restaurant or perusing through local shops, I stop and look at the repurposed furniture that graces many places: the beam benches and barn board tables and wall units that have been created from past pieces of a bank barn.  I can’t help but wonder all the animals and people that have touched that wood and if it was from a barn that I once passed while driving through the province or countryside!   
 
I will be long gone, but hope that someone will stop a hundred years from now and smile at our old barn still standing with all its beauty.