The Lay of The Land
We haven’t been out to the property since Brooklyn’s dad died except to clean up the old trailer and move it out. There have been some renters living there to maintain the yard and keep the well running. With Bettie and Charlie’s blessing, we load up our four-wheeler and go on a grand tour with Brooklyn’s cousins who have been renting the eldest brother’s house for a few years. They are planning to build out there in the near future and have had time to get the lay of the land and start their own gardens.
They guide us through the side of the property and into the vast openness of the hayfield. When you haven’t been out there in a while it truly is breathtaking. Almost twenty acres of pure open prairie. The smell of freshly mown hay and the glitter of the afternoon sun immediately relaxes you. The purr of the four-wheeler is nothing compared to the booming music and sirens in the city. We ride along the far edge of the field so as not to disturb the growing hay. Brooklyn can’t help but snap some pictures with her camera. We reach the far tree line and dip into the woods, it’s very grown-up but Charlie has been keeping a trail mowed for riding. We follow his trail into the thicket and up to the two looming pecan trees. They are just as majestic as Brooklyn remembers.
We turn to the left and see the back of the old barn. The entire back has caved in and fallen down on itself. The old barn wood is crumbling and the tin roof has rusted to a dark red color. We can see old boxes, stacks of wood, and something dark and oddly shaped like figs in some jars on a shelf. There are two rooms in the front of the barn that are still standing surprisingly well. One has beautiful white shiplap walls and some very interesting things scattered in it. We can see an old door and several windows stacked that must be from the original house. Hopefully, they can be cleaned up and salvaged. We take lots of pictures. It would be a dream to try to restore it as much as we can. We name it The Dixie Barn.
Next, we take a ride through the back of the property. The thickets are pretty intense but nothing a little trimming cant handle. We take a breather at the very back corner and just stop and listen. Silence. No cars. No airplanes. No trains. Just nature. What a huge relief. Our own personal little pocket of paradise. Deer tracks can be seen in the mud. Birds chirping and flitting about. Butterflies grace the skies with their presence. Hogs have rooted some of the ground. The abundance of wildlife is encouraging, with no pesky humans to intrude except us. We continue our ride up to where the old family garden used to be. It’s all overgrown and no longer producing obviously but is a nice memory of a time of simpler things. We pass by one of the many ponds and then up a trail to where Kristen and her husband are thinking about building. We pop out on the other side of the hayfield, again just shocked by its openness. We could get used to this.
We do not disturb the renters but see there is an old shed that Brooklyn’s parents put in and an old well house that is still working. David was very into his landscaping so several beautiful flower bushes and trees dot the front yard around where the trailer used to sit. The old rose garden that marked the front of the original homestead house is alive and well, thankfully. There is a smaller field at the front that is full of tall grass and some small trees. We make mental notes of where everything is and Brooklyn has taken pictures with her dutiful camera and some video.
After going back to our suburban house and decompressing from a very informative visit to the prairie we come up with a plan. The renters are due to move out in June. It is January. Not much we can do on the home site yet. Our focus becomes the barn.
