September 10, 2010

On Red Barns

This post will be about our recent trip to the USA, and about red barns in particular! Next to the sound of the loon, Red Barns are my new favorite, here's why:

***

Almost from the moment we entered the state of Wisconsin, we saw our first red barn.
It is very remarkable that we didn't see any of these in North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, but of course that might be because of our chosen route. Whatever, here it was, no more cowboys to be seen, but many a RED BARN.

Regular readers of my blog will know by now that I am a big lover of colour, especially turquoise, but all colours of the sea, and sun, the wood and stones including, are a big favorite. And also that I equally love the neutrals, you better ask me what I don't love ;-)...

But these red barns really got my attention and it is funny, when you spend lots of time on interstates and highways in an attempt to cross the USA from West to East in 9 weeks, how many of them you discover. And every barn I spotted had to be photographed as well... I think I pictured hundreds of them! But shooting pictures from a distance from a speeding car is not exactly the way to get the best results, so although I kept trying throughout our journey up and including New York State, the results were somewhat disappointing. Moreover, part of my pictures got lost (by my own mistake) and we could only retrieve some back via special software.

I have been asking myself what it is that attracts me in the red barn

and have come to the conclusion that it must be the complimenting colour scheme, of the barn and its surroundings...

the pristine contrast with the white trimwork, the windows. This colour also reminded me of the red wooden houses that are so characteristic for Norway, . Now that seriously might be another reason of my fondness; I made a trip to Norway once with my eldest son and cherish dear memories of that voyage...

when we visited Chicago, we camped in Elgin (near Big Timber) and on the campground was this very old red barn, about to be demolished. I was happy to be able to make pictures from close-up, not from a driving car this time!

The camphost told us that the barn was not safe anymore, and that's quite visible from this picture.

Once I got back home and could surf the internet again, I discovered by simply googling Red Barns, that there are millions of pictures available, so my new love certainly is not unique.

But since this phenomenon has been such a big and great part of our trip, I only thought it right to give it its due honour, I hope you liked it too!

Enjoy your weekend,
Grtz, Regina

3 comments:

Gerrie said...

I grew up on a farm in upstate New York with a red barn. They are very nostalgic for me.

jgr said...

Oh, I love the red barns! Thank you for showing us.

Caterina Giglio said...

oh... I think for me it is a romanticized way of life that I grew up with in Michigan, we have lots of red barns there too of course and I agree they look great don't they... I was told they came up with the color red so that they could see them in the blizzards... they tied a rope to the house, held the rope while waking to the barn and tied the rope to the barn so they could find their way back to the house again, after feeding the animals. the house was usually painted white! so finding the way back was critical!!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin