Funny how things work out sometimes. You've probably noticed a large amount of submissions recently of the same location, all filed away into the gallery section titled "McFarland Barn."

In short, this barn is just up the road from me, and has been falling into further and further disrepair for years. I have always wanted to take photos of it, but I'm not a huge advocate of trespassing out in the country, as there are lots of angry farmer types around who wouldn't mind saying hello with a rifle.

I wanted to come up with some way to contact the owner, but I felt kind of silly about it. Even so, I was worried that if I didn't act soon, the barn would collapse and my chance would be gone. It took a substantial hit over the winter from the heaviness of snow and wind.

My sister, works at a local bird sanctuary, and one day while my mother and I were dropping her off, we got into conversation with a man who was visiting the facility. As it turns out - not only was he the owner of the barn, he's also a professor at my university, *and* he knows a great deal about my family's own history, as he grew up in this area.

I couldn't believe how fortunate my circumstances were, and I told him that I have been wanting to photograph his barn for years! He said that I should act quickly because he's in the process of having it torn down, and that it probably won't be there in a few months. I went about two weeks later, and he has become a friend of the family in the process.

The barn sits on a piece of property where the house itself dates to 1850. The barn was built in 1930, out of primarily white pine. It was built rather poorly at the time, and has never been structurally sound. Even so, it was used for quite a long while, though it's begun to crumble over the past 10 years.

Dr. McFarland grew up on the property, and has many fond memories of and stories about the barn. I probably spent around an hour and a half walking around it, and if you look at it from the back you wouldn't notice that anything is wrong. The barn is 40 by 50 feet - something I never would have guessed seeing it from the road.

As a sign of gratitude to him and in memory of all of his own childhood memories of the barn, I asked if I could have some of the windows that have fallen out of it, to print out some of the photos and use the windows as frames for them. He was very pleased by the idea, and I plan to do that soon.

The story behind the barn is so interesting that I wanted you all to know! I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.