52 sundays; august 14, 2011

This barn captured my heart while on vacation in Michigan two years ago . . . before I ever started blogging . . . before I ever knew what a ‘blog’ was . . .

The Professor and I were desperately trying to make it to the top, climbing to the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes . . . let me re-phrase that, one of us was sure she was going to die . . . The Professor was doing just fine . . . but in my defense, I am barely 5′ 2″ and let’s just say I may or may not be packing a few extra pounds . . . do you know what happens when a 5′ 2″ someone – who may or may not be packing extra pounds – takes a step in soft sand on a dune that sits at about 90-degree angle??? She’s up to her thigh in sand with one leg and trying, none-to-gracefully to balance herself with the other . . . I rest my case . . . anyhoo . . .

On one of our many rests to catch my breath (seriously, was wondering when the oxygen masks were going to drop from the sky), I turned around and something silver caught my eye. I realized it was this beautiful barn – quite large because I could see it from about mid-point on that dune. It was so stunning, that when we finally descended that dune I asked The Professor to drive up and down the roads near there to find it so we could take these photos.

Apparently, it’s quite a famous barn – a 116-feet long dairy barn to be exact – and sits on 400 acres was originally owned by DH Day (David Henry Day); the farm is just South of Glen Haven and sits as a landmark of the agricultural heritage of the area.

And I’m happy to report that I did make it all the way to the top, albeit it took me an hour to do so – WOO!

We have some terrific entries for the Barn Project – take a peek at the Flickr stream – would love to have you participate; we choose our first month’s winner at the end of August – which isn’t very far away so get busy!

11 Comments

  1. What an unusual (but pretty) barn! Thanks for the giggles, too. 😉

  2. We don’t have barns like that in Los Angeles! GREG

  3. What a gorgeous barn! Love this project, Debra.

  4. It’s been years since I last saw a huge barn like this one. Love the story behind it.

  5. Love these Sunday posts. 🙂

    What a cool barn.

  6. The barn is beautiful! Going to check out the Flickr page now!

  7. I have never seen a barn like this. So glad it caught your eye & you could share it with us 🙂

  8. Oh, honey – I feel your pain. I’m 4’10” and definitely packing on a “couple” of extra pounds. Reminds me of the time hubs & I climbed up a glacier in British Columbia a number of years back. It was covered in moraine (fancy word for loose stones deposited by a glacier) and a pretty darned steep angle. Oh, I made it to the top. Eventually. Had to come back down sitting on my butt and sliding, though. ;-D

    Those barn pix are lovely. Make me wish for another drive up north.

  9. love that barn. so pretty.

    I totally understand your pain lol… I am 5’2 and I may…. or maynot be packing some extra poundage 😉 So I know how that is

  10. What a fun project – old barns are so elegant and love the history that they are steeped in.

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