Births. Deaths. Certainly those.

Celebrations for birthdays, for weddings, for the end of a drought and good crops.

Tables in the yard, laden with food. Tantalizing smells wafting from the kitchen, promising more.

Heartache. Loved ones who went to war and never returned. Arguments and screen doors slamming.

Joyous reunions.

Neighbors helping put out a fire, build a rock fence, raise a windmill, plant a harvest, chase down a runaway cow.

Friends delivering a baby. Providing food and a silent shoulder in times of mourning.

Bicycles and toy wagons littering the yard. A beloved mutt curled up on the porch near the door or sprawled in a patch of sunlit dirt in the yard.

Young couples, just married, and older ones, helping each other up the steps. 

The squeak of a porch swing on a summer evening. The smell of a bonfire on an autumn night. 

Days when voices and laughter echoed from the windows, open to capture a cool breeze in a stifling Texas summer.

And days like these when silence is palpable…when only memories and shadows walk the worn wooden floors.


DSC_0054

I pass this old farmhouse on my way to work and it always starts my mind wondering about its history. Finally, one day, I stopped with my camera…and that's when it spoke to me.

 

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23 responses to “If I could talk, I’d tell of…”

  1. Hilary Avatar

    It spoke volumes.. lifetimes. Beautifully done, Barbara – the home’s memories and the photo.

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  2. lisleman Avatar

    I recall the runaway cow post.
    Farm families tended to be large and I imagine full of stories. Do you know the people who live there?

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  3. Barbara Shallue Avatar

     
    No, I really don't know anything about the house…yet. I'd love to learn more about its history. It took me forever to finally stop and take a photo, though! I can't tell if anyone still lives there or not.
     

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  4. She Who Carries Camera Avatar

    Old buildings/structures never used to do that to me, but now they do. So much history behind all the overgrown nature and rotten wood. BTW…Google Reader is fixed…no HTML! Yeah!

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  5. Kathy Avatar

    I do much the same up here. I love all of those “invisible” voices that our hearts can see so clearly.

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  6. Gail Avatar

    I’m always imagining the lives lived in these old homes. Your photo is marvelous!

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  7. Jennifer Richardson Avatar

    oh, friend, you listen so well:)
    thanks for sharing that regal old place’s story,
    Jennifer

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  8. lisa Avatar

    What a find, Barbara, and such beautiful words to go with it!

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  9. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    Thank you, Hilary!

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  10. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    I’ve always loved old houses, and now rusty metal roofs and cracked paint just add to the allure. (Yay on Google Reader! Now if we could just figure out the display problem here!!)

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  11. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    I bet you have great old houses up there!

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  12. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    Thanks, Gail. I’d love to go on a trek with you to all those old plantation homes!

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  13. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    You’re welcome…although I’m only guessing about its stories, of course. 🙂

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  14. Barbara Shallue Avatar
  15. Wolf Pascoe Avatar

    Beautiful, beautiful, vivid and true.

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  16. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    Thanks, Hilary. I just love old farmhouses and can't help imagining their stories. I just have to get the voices out of my head sometimes! 🙂
     

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  17. Holly Avatar

    I love old farm houses, and old barns. I can make my husband crazy when we are traveling because I always want to stop to take a picture of them. They DO speak to me. I love this post.
    Holly

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  18. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    I do the same thing when we're traveling… I've learned to shoot out the window!  I'm the same way about old trucks and cars, too. I love traveling by myself because I can stop as often as I want.

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  19. Barbara Shallue Avatar
  20. ladyfi Avatar

    What beautiful stories it weaved. And a lovely shot.

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  21. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    I bet you have some wonderful old homes up there!
    Sent from my iPhone

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  22. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    You have those awesome old plantations near you. So much history!
    Sent from my iPhone

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  23. Barbara Shallue Avatar

    The stories of life!
    Sent from my iPhone

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