Toppled Down

Those of you who have followed here for awhile, know this barn. It is still a very useful barn, and it is ours. It still stands strong and loves being in demand. Through wind, rain, snow and storms, it still stands proud. Her bones are nearly 100, but she has had a lift or two to keep her beauty. She keeps her annual check-ups and has even been photographed often with all of her charm, and her eyes still sparkle.
This old barn, well over 100 yrs. it stood, holding promise to the neighbors down the road a piece. Last fall, after a terrible storm, it finally fell to it's loft, broken by the wind. No one lived at the homestead any longer, only seeing the newest generation of family who would come from the city for a weekend visit a time or two throughout the year. The charm of the old barn now lays waiting for someone to clean it up, or take care saving her boards for another use.

We watched over the past 30 yrs., as this fine-boned building began to meet it's demise, left with untended walls, roof leaking like a sieve, wetting the once strong structure, crumbling under it's dampened weight. It didn't take much understanding, that her day was near. No longer would she hold the cows, chickens, hogs and horses that once made the farm sing. Her walls weakened, and buckled under the breathe of a breeze just strong enough to break one beam. The rest was as if listening to dominoes topple against a hardwood floor.

I don't suppose the destruction of the human body is much different. Soon, if we do not tend what was once strong, we begin to fold, becoming brittle under the weight of our own ignorance, heavy with the burden of neglect, until we, too, topple.

We have chosen to take care of the bones of our barn, wanting it to still do a chore or two. It no longer holds hobby farm animals, but lumber, to fix what's broke, before she falls. It holds a potting area for our future gardens, and the tools to tend those gardens. Our old, loved barn, holds Christmas, GrandLove yard toys and Big Boy Toys. Ferrel kittens are born there every spring and again in the fall. It's lean-to holds our firewood for each winter. The walls outside, hold an antique farm sythe and a wagon wheel, and a 5 ft. star on it's east side that shines all of Dec. and Jan. Our old but useful barn still stands proud.

As for us, we choose to also do our best to keep ourselves from toppling. Drink your water, take your vitamins and minerals, eat those healthy fruit, veggies, grains, fish and lean meats. Enjoy your dark chocolate.

It's the hardest thing for me to do, but get your heart rate up there. We will be stronger for it.

What do you do to ' keep from toppling?'

Thanks for coming and

BlessYourHeart