Happy Thanksgiving to the world! I hope that your day will be filled with meaningful family traditions or whatever soon to be traditions fill your heart with happiness and, of course, thankfulness.
Rose and I have once again made the trek south to the homelands of southern Minnesota to spend this holiday with our respective families. My family on Thanksgiving itself, and Rose's family on Friday.
A wrench was thrown into our plans by the bad news that my last remaining grandparent's health is waning and that the prognosis is potentially not very good. With the members of the DeCoux side of the family it pretty much comes down to stubborness. I swear that my Grandpa DeCoux stayed alive for about 8 years longer than he should have simply because my grandma told him to. My grandma, on the other hand, doesn't have that influence in her life any more. She does have the affection and concern of her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, but somehow that doesn't seem to work as well as your spouse for 60+ years... go figure...
Anyway, she is in the hospital and that means that instead of the planned dinner (which is in the middle of the day for those of you who did not grow up on a farm) and hangout will become an abbreviated dinner and a trip to the hospital. Usually not as fun as the other option, but hey, let's give it a go.
So what does this have to do with anything?
I always feel really sleepy when things like this happen. When my mom passed away I slept for about 6 hours in the middle of the day, waking up to a house full of family and meat and cheese plates (many, many of them). When my step-mom had a heart attack I slept for 18 hours straight, through the night and half of the way through the next day. For those of you that don't know me, this is unusual. Tonight I was feeling very sleepy and decided to lay down, but I couldn't, despite my best efforts and tricks, get my mind to stop. I wasn't directly thinking about my grandma though, I was thinking about BARNS.
Yes, BARNS.
Driving down today I saw dozens (yes, dozens) of barns that are falling down, nearly falling down, or that are piles of timbers and lumber. This always makes me feel sad because I know that these buildings were once the backbone of the agricultural system in their areas and now are in the lurch without a direct use or purpose.
Solution:
Re-purpose them. This idea came while I was laying sleeplessly in bed and I think that it isn't half bad. Demolish or disassemble the barn, salvage the usable timbers, wood, siding, tin roofing, hardware, windows, and build a new legacy building from the old materials (and a few new materials to help with stability). My original idea was to build a garden shed of some kind out of the materials, but the options are really very broad: garden shed, guest house, workshop, ANY kind of outbuilding would work.
There are numerous organizations around the country that are dedicated to saving the history present in American barns and I believe that this could be a great way to assist in doing this. I have a potential taker on this idea that I could do next spring, so if any of you know of any barns or barn owners in Minnesota or Wisconsin that would be good candidates for this kind of a project, let me know! I am seriously considering this as a hobby profession!
Alright, coming full circle now: What does this have to do with my grandma? Things falling apart is not a new concept. It is part of existing. My grandma said the other day that if she died tomorrow she would have lived a great life and she would be happy. She will be gone, but her legacy is almost perpetuated through the teaching, loving, (disciplining for some of us), and living that she has done. Likewise these once grand structures that are now at the dusk of their lives can be perpetuated in a new way, a way that passes on the beauty and meaning that went into them in the first place. Repurposing is not a new concept either, and one that could help preserve a big chunk of history.
So, in closing, I am thankful for those that have come before, and for those that will come after me.
*There is another post in here that I will tackle soon having to do with the lowly status of the aged amongst us, which is completely wrong if you ask me. VALUE the aged and everyone will benefit... Anyway, that is for another day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Rose and I have once again made the trek south to the homelands of southern Minnesota to spend this holiday with our respective families. My family on Thanksgiving itself, and Rose's family on Friday.
A wrench was thrown into our plans by the bad news that my last remaining grandparent's health is waning and that the prognosis is potentially not very good. With the members of the DeCoux side of the family it pretty much comes down to stubborness. I swear that my Grandpa DeCoux stayed alive for about 8 years longer than he should have simply because my grandma told him to. My grandma, on the other hand, doesn't have that influence in her life any more. She does have the affection and concern of her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, but somehow that doesn't seem to work as well as your spouse for 60+ years... go figure...
Anyway, she is in the hospital and that means that instead of the planned dinner (which is in the middle of the day for those of you who did not grow up on a farm) and hangout will become an abbreviated dinner and a trip to the hospital. Usually not as fun as the other option, but hey, let's give it a go.
So what does this have to do with anything?
I always feel really sleepy when things like this happen. When my mom passed away I slept for about 6 hours in the middle of the day, waking up to a house full of family and meat and cheese plates (many, many of them). When my step-mom had a heart attack I slept for 18 hours straight, through the night and half of the way through the next day. For those of you that don't know me, this is unusual. Tonight I was feeling very sleepy and decided to lay down, but I couldn't, despite my best efforts and tricks, get my mind to stop. I wasn't directly thinking about my grandma though, I was thinking about BARNS.
Yes, BARNS.
Driving down today I saw dozens (yes, dozens) of barns that are falling down, nearly falling down, or that are piles of timbers and lumber. This always makes me feel sad because I know that these buildings were once the backbone of the agricultural system in their areas and now are in the lurch without a direct use or purpose.
Solution:
Re-purpose them. This idea came while I was laying sleeplessly in bed and I think that it isn't half bad. Demolish or disassemble the barn, salvage the usable timbers, wood, siding, tin roofing, hardware, windows, and build a new legacy building from the old materials (and a few new materials to help with stability). My original idea was to build a garden shed of some kind out of the materials, but the options are really very broad: garden shed, guest house, workshop, ANY kind of outbuilding would work.
There are numerous organizations around the country that are dedicated to saving the history present in American barns and I believe that this could be a great way to assist in doing this. I have a potential taker on this idea that I could do next spring, so if any of you know of any barns or barn owners in Minnesota or Wisconsin that would be good candidates for this kind of a project, let me know! I am seriously considering this as a hobby profession!
Alright, coming full circle now: What does this have to do with my grandma? Things falling apart is not a new concept. It is part of existing. My grandma said the other day that if she died tomorrow she would have lived a great life and she would be happy. She will be gone, but her legacy is almost perpetuated through the teaching, loving, (disciplining for some of us), and living that she has done. Likewise these once grand structures that are now at the dusk of their lives can be perpetuated in a new way, a way that passes on the beauty and meaning that went into them in the first place. Repurposing is not a new concept either, and one that could help preserve a big chunk of history.
So, in closing, I am thankful for those that have come before, and for those that will come after me.
*There is another post in here that I will tackle soon having to do with the lowly status of the aged amongst us, which is completely wrong if you ask me. VALUE the aged and everyone will benefit... Anyway, that is for another day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
