Derelict Barn in a Green Field

It's a dreich and dismal day with just a smattering of drizzle. The plan was to go to the nursery so we bundled ourselves up and into the car before our resolve weakened.

There were lots of candidates for dereliction on our drive down to Petaluma and the succulent nursery today, but I liked the fact that this old barn had a matching rusty and well weathered  mailbox on the road. Although no paint has been applied to any surface and there is a tarp on the roof,  this barn still has a certain sturdy uprightness to it that is appealing. 

Further up the road there is an operation that has been accumulating old farm implements for as long as we have been coming here. It seems that all small rural farms have more farm equipment than they know what to do with, and no place to store it other than somewhere out behind the barn. This fellow is obviously trying to make some kind of business out of it but he never seems to have any less junk. Some of it is even carefully lined up along the fence and is clearly quite antique.

In a past life my brother was a farmer and I always wondered why these huge (and hugely expensive) pieces of farm equipment couldn't be shared instead of abandoned when a new and better one came along. I think that it must have something to do with timing and the fact that certain crops all ripen at the same time....must ask him about that sometime. One year he grew zinnias for a seed company. His entire house was surrounded by a riot of color that extended for acres. Then the seed company came and harvested the seeds. Presumably they brought their own harvester....

Fortunately Dana and Jim came with us to the nursery because all imagination deserted me as soon as I took a closer look at one large elegant rose shaped agave and realized it was $85. With Dana's help we chose several nice specimens.   The credit card machine wouldn't take John's card and I hadn't brought my purse, so we had to use Jim's as the nursery stopped taking dirty cash a year ago. Now our little row of pots is sitting out in the rain awaiting better planting weather. I may need Dana's help in remembering where we decided to put them, for it seems to be one of those days of Covid brain for me. John and spike dug a hole.. One hole...it took half the afternoon. But we have nothing but time....