September 28, 2009

• During and After

  About two months ago I posted pictures of the barn foundation that was left after our fire.  That Ian was having us clean up anything that we wanted from there because the bulldozer was coming in to clean up the rest of the mess.  It took longer for the men to come than Ian expected but they have been here and the job is done.  The only way that you can tell that there was ever a bunch of barns behind our house is by the grain tower that still stands there and the last bit of rubble that is over the hill in the valley.  The grain tower has been sold and will be taken down and delivered at some time in the near future and the last pile of rubble will be covered when Ian gets some more money to hire the bulldozer one more time.

  He started out by the house digging up the cement and pushing it up into piles, little by little pushing them over the bank into the valley below.

  

  Some of those pieces of cement were quite large but the dozer had no trouble.  Each scrape of the tractor was a means of cutting away the old and the remaining memories of that tragic day and leaving in its place a fresh start.

  

  The pieces of cement that were the footer for the milkhouse were the biggest.  When they went over the bank the ground above shook. 

   

  

  Finally he graded it so that when it rains the water will run away from the buildings and driveways and into the valley.  There is now an open area where the barns once stood.  Ian has since sowed wheat and grass seed there and this morning I notice that the wheat is up.  We have built a fireplace from some of the cement blocks that we salvaged from the barn foundation and there is where we will sit of a cool evening enjoying the warmth of the fire, the company of family and friends, and the view across the valley into the field beyond.

  • 3:17 pm
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