Wind-Eye

There were "days of castles when the window was a 'wind-eye' or 'wind-o' - an opening for both the wind and the eye," Eric Sloane wrote in An Age of Barns.

This German, heritage-style 19th century bank barn was moved from a Pennsylvania farm. Each board was numbered, bundled, transported and reassembled on a new brick foundation, 500 miles west.

Its unexpected reincarnation, "wind-eyes" on a new horizon, among unfamiliar animals and caretakers, sits uneasily on a brick bed, like an ancient ark settled on a shifting cliff.

But its design is purposeful, a full forebay with banked stalls provides shelter for animals and space above for threshing grain.

I wonder if those aged boards breathe differently in this strange air. Do they miss their origins? Does it take time, as for every weary traveler, to catch up to the place they rush to? With speed, I forget that I have to wait for the arrival - of the rest of me. On foot and horseback, it was an easier transition to distant places. I took my time leaving. And the going was slow.

Now, I am too far ahead of myself, catching my breath in the crisp morning.

...

The Red Barn

Traders Point, Zionsville, Indiana