In the background of this picture you see in White paint 1942 and the initials NJB.I met NJB, June Brown last weekend. I have no idea her first name as I am realizing right now but I do know that she didn't remember putting her initials on the barn. 1942 is when the barn was last painted. June is 84 years old and she was born in my room. Her room was where our bathroom is now and her grandfather who was blind died in the room that is now our kitchen.
She basically lived in the basement as that is where the kitchen was and our backdoor was her front door. June raised Pekin ducks and her father milked 6 cows by hand each day. They milked and then put the milk in the spring house which is still across from the house.
The cherry and apple trees she remembers are gone but when she told me there were daffodils in the corner of the property I nearly fell over. Those daffodils still come up in the same place after 80 years. Next spring I'm going to invite her back to pick those daffodils.
The fascinating thing for me was to imagine life 80 years ago. No car, no car insurance. No electric bill, no cell phone bill, no water bill or gas bill, no tv bill, no internet bill. June told us how her parents used the horses to till the fields and to help pull the hay up to the top part of the barn. She said one of her favorite things was to take a pie her mother had made and sit in the grass next to the house and eat that entire pie with her father. What a beautiful image. I think we're going to have to make a pie this weekend and have a family pie picnic.
