Nature Photo: A Deserted Barn Overtaken by Nature

 This is one of my favorite barn photos. In fact, I made note cards out of one of the many photos I have of this deserted barn and its spring house (front rt.- hand corner).

  Spring houses were used somewhat as refrigerators.  Even if there wasn't a spring, just building most of it into a hillside kept it significantly cooler than anywhere else. Butter and milk could be kept there as well as anything that needed to be kept for awhile.

 I love the mix of rust, weathered wood, a posted sign, and overgrown wild flowers.

 Like many barns in this hilly area of Southeastern Ohio, the barn is built into a hillside.    The front and first floor are level with the road and the back and lower floor are level with a back field.  Usually the bottom was used for livestock and the first level stored machinery and tools.  The top or third level was used to store hay.

Nature Photo

This is taken in my son's back yard.  

The tree is excellent for climbing by his kids.

I like the play of the branches' shadows on the lawn.

Nature: Suppertime and Five-Minute Friday: Release

This shows off his head as he peers in at his supper.

Partaking of the Seed.

Apparently he has company flying in.

Release

Begin: For eight years I lived in a very small bungalow 

on a horrendously busy and dangerous highway.

I had two indoor cats

and no dogs.

 The set-up was such that I could not feed birds

without difficulty and hassle.

Now we live in a good -sized farm house

on eight acres outside of our small town.

No more screeching of semi-truck brakes.

No more falling asleep to constant traffic sounds

( you do get used to after awhile.)

We were in the house three months 

when we got our Siberian Husky, Ginger.

 However, we began feeding the birds immediately.

The  previous owners left behind a bird feeder.

We now have 7 feeders of various kinds.

My daily ritual is to fill the feeders and hang them out.

Then I spread corn on the outskirts 

of the yard

for our lone deer(we had nine in the winter) 

and a peace offering to our neighbor the raccoon.

At night I get the feeders and once more spread corn

and seeds.

I am calmer.

Reminds me of a short story 

of a woman who felt responsible for 'her' birds

and only did brief visits to her sister,

so her birds would not wonder where she was.

I'm not to that point and don't plan on getting to that extreme.

Yet one significant discovery

is how animals and birds calm me.

They soothe me.

They become somewhat friends even,

like the deer that watches me distribute 

the corn and does not bolt from the yard.

An important theme in my story 

is how I am a calmer, nicer, friendlier 

person in general

because I tend to the birds, deer, raccoon,

and our cats and dog.

I release the stress and tension of my job

and other responsibilities

through tending for "God's creatures."

For more on release, please visit Five-Minute Friday.

Serene Nature

This is at the edge of a very old cemetery.