 Along the freeway, near an exit to a small town, there stands an old barn. It has been there since I moved to the area in the late 1960's. It sits up on a small rise, not really even a hill It is surrounded by dry grass, in ground so hard and dry the grass doesn't get very tall. It has been standing, proudly, keeping watch over the freeway, for many, many years. The wood used to construct the walls has aged and weathered. If it was ever painted, the paint wore off long ago. Like many things, it is just something that has always been there. It has only one memorable feature, that being the sign attached to the top part of the barn, 24 hours it reads. I never thought much about the barn, nor the sign. It was just a landmark, reminding me that I was getting close to home. Then one day, coming home from a trip, I also noticed the sign on the bottom of the barn. For Sale it read. And after passing this landmark several times, there came the day that I noticed something new. The land around the barn was being cleared, and leveled. There were signs that something was about to be built. In fact, there were signs that several "somethings" were going to be built around the old barn. And THEN it hit me. There was a good chance that the old barn, the lovely, weathered, old friend just might be torn down. With that thought, came the realization that I had come to love and respect this relic of a bygone era. Always there, welcoming me home. I also realized that I knew nothing of its' history. I had no idea who had built it. I had no knowledge of WHY the sign said 24 hour. I just knew that it was always there, a 24 hour barn. Not long after that, there was a "Letter to the Editor" in our local paper. It was telling of the plans to tear down the old barn, to make way for new homes. "AHA", I wasn't the only one who had come to regard this barn as an old friend. There was a campaign going on to ask the builders to reconsider and allow the barn to remain standing. The builders DID allow our 24 hour barn to remain standing guard over the freeway. But there has been a change in the old friend. The barn has been given some fresh, new paint. It is painted the same creamy color as the new houses surrounding it. It is still standing tall, still watching over the freeway, but its' 24 hour sign is gone. Even though it is still there, welcoming me home, it just isn't the same. One of us has changed.  |