Farmer's Beef and Noodles

I first experienced harvest with my husband's family 7 years ago back when we had just started dating for a summer. I remember riding in the combine with Dan for many hours on end until his mother's vehicle came rolling up through the field. 

Staring at the corn feeding into the head, he glanced up and casually says, "Lunch wagon is here!" 

We climbed out of the the combine and walked towards the vehicle as the broken corn stalks crunched under our boots. Kathy opens up the back of her vehicle and there it was.... a whole spread of food. Almost an entire Thanksgiving dinner, if you will.  She had everything from the main entree of beef and noodles with mashed potatoes and creamed corn to an appetizer of cheese and crackers to your choice of iced tea or water and even dessert. I was also even shocked that she had brought her table ware right there to the field! No Styrofoam plates or plastic cups and your drink was served out of a mason jar.

I was honestly expecting sandwiches tossed into a brown bag so this was a surprise. 

And right there began my first of many, many multi course meals in the field. 

A Foundation for Tomorrow

Driving down an Indiana back road, you'll come across an overgrown lane that leads to a place that once was. There's one on every rural block. The sun will set and rise again over these old farms. Day after day. Year after year. Until they are no more. Our modern lives can coexist with these landmarks of our ancestors. If we let them. We've been so caught up with making things newer, faster and more efficient. The wool is slowly being removed from our eyes as we realize what we have been throwing out.

I spend a lot of time traveling our back country roads especially on nights like tonight. The weather fair, a beautiful sunset as all is quiet on the horizon. As if not a single soul is around for miles. It was a perfect Friday night to end a busy week.

Life just feels so busy at times. The moment I wake up in the morning until that very moment I am lying in my bed at night stretching my eyes open just one last time, my mind is racing a million miles a minute. 

But the moment I come across an old, abandon homestead, my mind completely stops. My busy life stops for just a moment.

A moment long enough to realize that there is more to this world then our present. 

Amongst our present is a world that has completely and utterly stopped.

Our history.

History is a precious reminder that life isn't forever. 

History, however does live on forever. 

The lives we live today are creating a foundation for the lives that will live on tomorrow. 

And I think that's why I love these old farms so much.

These old farms have created our foundation. 

A foundation that has been truly forgiving and understanding in this out with the old, in with the new  world we live in today. 

Last Chance for Indiana Barns

Historic Indiana Barns built prior to 1950 are falling at an alarming rate.  

To paint you a better picture, I often hear a chilling statistic.  

Just over a decade ago, 30,00 barns painted Indiana’s rural landscape. In this past decade alone, we have lost 10,000 which leaves us with only 20,000 barns.

You may think that 20,000 is a big number. What you don’t realize, is the amount of barns on the verge of falling down in the mix of that 20,000.

This means 2.5 barns have fallen in the Hoosier state EVERY SINGLE DAY in the last decade.

Many historical barns need a new roof, a new foundation and new siding in order to survive.

You and I both know what’s keeping many from replacing a roof, foundation and the siding on a historical barn.

Money.

It all cost money. 

A lot of it.

Families who inherit a historical barn upon purchasing their property struggle with replacing the roof on their home, let alone a barn. 

There are also many families who can afford to put money into their barn but don’t understand the need to.

“Interest in barns is wide. People don’t hate then. They just don’t understand them.”