The Barn

This is my favorite barn.

Bobby and I drive past that barn every Sunday on the way to church. Every time we pass it, I always tell myself I need to take a picture of it. It's got beautiful composition, not only for the position of the structure itself in the middle of the field, the colors of the day and of its surroundings, but because of what it represents. A lone barn in the middle of the field (Melissa's goin' sappy, look out!).

As I'm slowly being given my dose of rural America, I have so enjoyed watching the people around me thrive on what they've built. So many families down here still live on "the family farm" and even if it's not a working farm anymore, their great-grandparents still live in the original house and have slowly sold bits and pieces of land to their eight children. Those pieces of land are rarely sold to outsiders, as this land represents the sweat equity, the American Dream, the family history. The land will probably be passed down to their childrens children, and then to their children. The American Dream lives on and the roots of family grow deeper and deeper. I think that's one of the things that I love most about the South (Maryland? South, you say? Why, yes! We are south of the Mason-Dixon Line!)... people have roots. There's still history down here - pride - and while the landscape of Southern Maryland is rapidly changing along with the people in it, the Tree still stands tall and provides a shelter for those who remain. There are a lot of things that just haven't changed a bit (for instance, the grocery stores. Just kidding).

So I might be over-romanticizing just a little bit... the people down here probably don't even think about those things. And those "locals" I always talk about? They are what make up some of these families. Most of the engineers, rocket scientists, Navy pilots, future astronauts, and circus entertainers migrate down here. Just kidding about the circus entertainers. Although, have you been to the County Fair?!

So when you come down here to Cali to visit us, remember to take in the country scenery, but be sure to avoid being hit by the deer. They like to scare the tourists.