Memories are like rainbows, filled with golden dreams, the rainbow that would span over the barn after a hard shower. Mom would call all of us to see the display and with tears in her eyes tell us stories of her youth, living on the farm...with the 'ole barn.

I had better stop before the list of nostalgia grows any further. The down line is, of course, that the barn was the focal point of the entire farm. From early rooster crow to late evening sunsets across the muddy Skagit, life really depended on the barn ... That remarkable structure that today stands, or is falling, its paint peeling, its windows broken, its doors open and off track, its last remnants of clover and alfalfa chaff still giving off that sweet aroma that only a hay mow can give. How fortunate those of us who have lived with the 'ole barn are.
 

Written by  ©  Gordon Knapp