Sunday, March 20, 2011

Old Barns and Pianos

I saw it first through the trees from the road as we were passing by on our way through Concord. I'm a sucker for old houses, especially ones with barns, and so we stopped to take a look.

Parking the car around the back of the house I was greeted with the sight of this beautiful old barn/horse stall/hayloft. It was twice the size of the house! I went looking for bottles and glassware, old medicine tins and the like, while Sue roamed about in the house. The property is beautiful, 57 acres in all, formerly a farm, destined for either a shopping center or another housing development. Farming doesn't pay well anymore.

But for me this was the surprise which made the whole stop worthwhile; an upright piano on the front porch. Long neglected and beyond repair, it was unique, almost a work of art. Think of it, 80 years or so ago, with radio in it's infancy, and television still just a dream, some family sat around on the screened porch, alongside of a small rural road, and sang along to the piano. Contrast that with sitting in front of the TV, night after night, remote in hand, never satisfied. You know, I think these folks were on to something...

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