Barnstorm

In 1975, when I was five, my family of origin became part of the back-to-the-land movement, moving to rural Sappho, Washington from Seattle. For the first year, while we built, my parents rented the only other house on the road we were building on. The house had a big barn with a hay loft and stables. It was a fun place to play and explore for me and Kelly. There was a rope swing from the loft and a barn owl that lived in the rafters.

Years later, another local family--the Colemans--bought the house and property. Sean Coleman was a classmate of my sister's. He's also the daddy of Immy's preschool classmate Cash. When I posted the pictures below of me and Simon at 5, I was reminded that the photo of me was taken by my dad in the "Pirnkie House," as we called it after the original owners. I e-mailed it to Sean's wife with a note that we had lived in the same house. I was delighted to get an e-mail back from Sean with a picture of the barn attached. Sadly, the barn is now completely gone. Sean wrote that a storm blew the roof off and his parents put a metal roof on to try and save it. The picture was taken after the Colemans sold the property.

Maybe it was my early love for this barn that inspired our barn wedding 20 years later.