King Of The Barn

My childhood involved many days at one of my grandparents’ farms. As many who have grown up around a farm can attest, there is never a shortage of things to do in the country. However, for me there was always an almost supernatural ability for those old weathered structures to lure me towards them. Even now old barns still catch my attention and any time I pass one I wonder just what history is contained within the walls of them.

Grandpa Stockburger operated a large commercial type of farm, and as a result, his barn was actually more of a pole building with metal sides and roof. Because of the nature of the farm, generally it contained pallets of fertilizers and other chemicals. Hardly anything, that would excite a young child, but a necessary part of a large farming operation.

On my mom’s side of the family, my grandfather had one of those classic old barns that you see in pictures, a structure that contained a tall section in the center complete with massive doors large enough to pull a loaded wagon full of hay easily inside. Almost never do I remember a time that all of my cousins were there that we did not end up in that part of the barn. Neither warnings of snakes or risk of getting caught by my grandfather was ever enough to keep us away, the lure of playing king of the barn on top of those massive stacks of hay was just too tempting to resist.

As a young child, my grandfather also raised tobacco, I can remember many late nights being up at the barn with the entire family as my grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles would stick those leaves of tobacco and then hang them from the rafters of the barn to dry. Even now, I still remember the sweet smell the drying tobacco would give off. In later years when the tobacco crops were long gone, on occasions you could still smell tobacco inside that barn.

On each side, there were smaller sections that ran the length of the barn. To the left was the old tool shed with many old farm tools hanging from the rafters. I have since seen many scenes in movies that reminded me of the old tool room. There was the old hand operated corn sheller, which could remove kernels of corn from a cob as fast as you could crank it. Never did I tire of watching how quickly this old device could separate the corn from a cob, even though to a young boy it could be difficult to crank.

Behind the tool area, there were the old horse stalls. I never remember my grandfather having horses, but in bad weather, he would put ‘Ole Tom, the most stubborn mule you could ever imagine in one of them. If I stop for a moment, I can still see my grandfather arguing with that old mule in the field. Pulling at the reins, kicking up dirt, and even throwing a rock at his backside to get his attention, it was a sight to watch. Even now, I can still hear “gee”, “haw”, and “whoa”, if I listen carefully.

On the right side, there was what at one time had probably been milking stalls. Mainly this area was full of old stored items, but many of the old mangers still contained hay from a time when fresh milk flowed inside each of the stalls in that old barn.

In this area was also one room that was my grandfather’s pride and joy. You see he always raised a huge crop of potatoes and in the front corner was the potato room. This room was off-limits when he was not around. Every year he would prepare this room with a thick layer of fine fresh sawdust on the floor. After digging up bushel after bushel of potatoes, he would gently lay them on top of the bed of sawdust. Afterwards he would also cover the potatoes and we always had fresh potatoes all winter.

Unfortunately, the old barn is no longer standing, all that is left are the memories of generations of boys, and girls who worked, played, and explored the insides of that old structure. However, my mind can still take me to the top of the hay bales, as we would see just who could be king of the barn!