Event Date: 1978–1983

Event Date: 1978–1983 Drafted: 2025-11-23

The barn was really two barns under one roof — two different universes connected by a central core of beams and dust and old wood.

The Animal Realm (The Living Barn)

Warm. Humid. Breathing.

This was where the goats lived, where chickens rustled in straw, where ducks clattered across the floor with their awkward feet. The smell was unmistakable — hay, feathers, manure, and the sweet musk of goats.

This was the soft, organic core of the farm. The place with straw underfoot. The place with warmth even in winter.

The Machine Realm (The Iron Barn)

Cold. Echoing. Hard edges.

This side held tools, rusted machinery, plows, blades, wagons — the bones of the farm’s early decades. The floor here was smooth concrete with oil stains marking long-forgotten repairs. Sunlight came through cracks in the boards, making thin shafts of gold that illuminated dust motes floating like tiny planets.

This was where the grown-ups worked. Where the stories of mechanical mishaps, repairs, and curses lived. Where you didn’t touch anything without permission.

As a child, I’d stand at the threshold between these two worlds — animal sounds behind me, the cold echo of metal ahead — and feel like I was choosing between two kingdoms.

Both belonged to the farm. Both shaped who I would become.