Translation: Good Morning, Good Luck, God Bless.
From the West Side, the barn is imposing, majestic, and brilliantly thought out.
I was invited on a tour and was there first thing in the morning.
Moise and Barbara have decided to hold church services in the barn this Sunday, the family is scrambling to get the barn cleaned up, and the wooden benches moved in.
Barbara and the girls and two of the boys are working all day in the kitchen to get food prepared for the Sunday lunch following services, which begin around 9:30 and end more than two hours later.
The kitchen smells wonderful, and some relatives and neighbors have come to prepare for the Sunday services and celebration.
Barbara asked for some ice cubes tomorrow, but otherwise, I’ll stay away until Monday or Tuesday.
Barbara’s kitchen is a wonderful place to hang out for a few minutes, the smells alone melt my heart.
Moise and his family are excited to unofficially baptize the new barn just two days after its construction.
They see it as a way of giving thanks to God for their friends and family and new barn.
(I have not been invited to church services and don’t feel it’s a place I would really be welcome or need to go.)
I am much impressed by the detail and design that went into the barn. The cement walls are solid as a rock, and no animal will kick, squeeze or bust through them.
I’ve lived around old barns for years now, and I’m struck by the fact that the Amish – who used almost no technology but levelers – created barns as efficient as any I’ve seen on my photo-taking missions to farm.
The concrete walls in the stalls will last a hundred years.
The stalls run the entire length of the ground floor. They will be very happy in there with their hay, oats, water and shelter.
Holes in the ceilings will enable Moise to toss hay down a chute and into a wooden hay feeder that runs the length of the floor. The walls are spacious, solid, and will house all of the farm’s horses and livestock.
The barn is built for ventilation – there are windows and open spaces on all sides, the breezes that sail up the hill will keep the air fresh.
Huge gateways make it possible for the horses and wagons to walk right through the center of the barn upstairs and down
Moise-s electric free gravity irrigation system, which feeds his pastures, also feeds the barn, a water trough runs through the horse stalls and will have fresh water ready to pour into buckets.
There is plenty of room for the horses to lie down and turn around and separate feeders for oats.
This morning it poured for a long time, and even without windows and finished doors, the ground on the barn floors were dry. There were no leaks anywhere in the building.
I’ve had barns for 15 years for horses, donkeys, and sheep and I have never seen a better, more solid, or intelligently thought out than this barn.
Even without electricity, this has the feel of a modern barn, all interconnected. The hay will be stored on the vast third floor, but there are drop chutes along the horse stalls.
People forget that the Amish have been farming for more than 500 years. They know how to do it as well as anyone in the world.
I’m going to see the second floor next week, that’s a wide space for the service on Sunday.
It happened to be the turn for Church this Sunday, there will be horse carts all morning.
There are approximately 13 families with an known number of children living in this Amish district at the present time.
I wish them Clucksschwein – good luck – on Sunday.
There is something very compelling and calm about black and white photography. I think of Ansel Adams and his magnificent photos that conveyed so much majesty.
My grandfather, born in 1880, supported four children on a modest income but supplemented with commissioned photography. He had a passion for all kinds of photography and he had a Leica camera. To this day, I can hear him and my dad say the word Leica with a hushed tone of reverence. I can feel that in your writing and I’m anticipating more magnificent photos. I’m happy for you.
The barn is lovely and well thought out-my two questions would be these, do you know if Moise plans to add upright supports to the two end overhangs? Curious about that-with heavy snow, they may need uprights? Also would love to know how the gravity feed water system works in winter as well? It won’t freeze?
Jon, each day, I think I’ll refrain from adding a comment and then your photos and comments capture my attention.
The barn is an obviously well-engineered building, though that was evident when I saw the first concrete walls and piers. As you aptly note, the Amish have been building barns by hand for 500 years and passed down generations of knowledge and experience. I’m sure the men who helped the Millers with this barn also gleaned some ideas for future barns they’ll design and build. I assume there were layout plans, etc. from all the precise placement of everything. Have you ever seen Moise’s set of plans?
I also agree that this view of the barn shows the enormity of the building. I’ll be anxious to see the interior details as you get future tours. Moise’s attention to detail and the addition of hay chutes, watering troughs, etc. clearly exhibit his engineering acumen. I’m looking forward to seeing the horses in their stalls…that should make a magnificent photo!
Already, too many words… Thanks again for your diligent reporting! Enjoy your weekend.
Your photos & your words enlighten my day.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Just can’t imagine life before I discovered you.
It really does mean that much.
Big smile.
Jon, I’m very aware that you’re not Christian. That being said I think you’d truly love attending a service there. It’s all about love & nothing about condemnation. I truly think you’d be surprised. I know they would welcome you.
I’ll shut my mouth now.
Have a great weekend.
I second Steve. You can be aggravating on occasion, but always great to read. Write on Jon!
I thought that black and white photos would disappoint—but no, they are wonderful. I keep turning back to your first one reproduced here on the blog. It it glorious, so alive that it bursts from the page. Well, enough praise for you!
Have a great day. Painless I hope. Don’t overdue things; watch out for your body and rest when you should.
Jon, I am loving you writing and photos and also your readers posts. So glad I found you all. On BW photographs, I once read a book by someone who said his vision was completely color deficient. He trained horses and said he judged their coat seeing “pigment density”. Interesting.