This afternoon I took a trip back to the farm to enjoy a picnic and watch our barn get knocked down. After many years of entropy the thing had finally decayed past the point of usefulness, and into the realm of being a danger to those around it.

Many years ago adjustments had been made to its structure to allow more storage space, and these adjustments had ultimately weakened the frame.

Notice that the whole end of the barn is hanging in space, with nothing but the roof beams preventing it from tumbling down.

This is the view from inside, showing how cock-eyed and beat-up the structure is.

This beam, and the one it butts into on the left, are the only things holding the barn up at this point.

Local demolisher-of-large-buildings Herbie Van Aiken provided the bulldozer and told us it wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes to bring the thing down.

Herbie lined up on the beam he said was the keystone of the structure and, after digging up some sod, gave it a push.

I was looking for a position to take some good shots when I heard CRACK and got my camera up just in time to see the barn come down in a huge cloud of dust.

The demolition took about five minutes.

Another push on the main beam brought down the stubborn remnants.

And all this without touching the silo or pump-house which share a foundation with the barn.

My brother Kurt exploring the wreckage.

And my mother finally has the view to the south she has always wanted.