Fall in Dover, Wis.

The trees were turning when I came upon the town of Dover, Wisc. and this English style barn just outside of town. Two more images from the same farm are posted below.

Three along a roadside

Three old farm buildings, two of them barns with stone foundations, sit not far from a roadside in rural Wisconsin.

Backroad moon

I had pointed my car down one of the many backroads that criscross central Illinois the other day when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, behind a row of trees, a barn standing off in the distance. The moon had risen  and the day was ending. But the hour held enough light to make an image.  So risking life and limb, I parked the car on the side of Illlinois Route 116 raced across the road, camera in hand and made a few frames. It was just one of those moments when the photo gods were smiling.

Thanks, Bob

My cell phone rang about 8:45 a.m. the other morning with a call from a Bob Wendt, who lives somewhere in Tennessee. He called to tell me how much he loved our book, "Wisconsin Barns," but he admitted some disappointment because we didn't have interior photographs.
After I explained that we had a limited amount of space to show a representative number of photos, the reason for Bob's disappointment became clear.
Seems Bob was brought up on a farm in Washington County, Wis. The farm, of course, had a barn. Bob, a woodworker, says he is building a scaled down replica of that barn in his basement and he's at the point where he needs photos of the interior.
Unfortunately, "Wisconsin Barns" didn't include many barn interiors, nor do I have many from the "out takes" to share. So I directed him to a source in the Wisconsin barn preservation community who I thought could help.
Bob is understandably quite attached to his childhood barn. So much so that he drove from his home in Tennessee up to the barn in Washington County to photograph it. Unfortunately, he couldn't get inside because the building was closed so he took pictures of the interior through windows.
I know from days as newspaper editor that its quite the accomplishment to get a reader to call in to comment on a story. So the fact that Bob took the time to track down my cell phone number really made my day and speaks to the emotional attachment these buildings can carry.

Thanks, Bob! And good luck on your project.

Just a post

A Wisconsin fence post stands with a sign of faded fall.

Dover delight 1

English barns tie two buildings together; they are rare for Wisconsin. This one's in Dover

Dover delight 2

The English barn in Dover stood strong against the blue Wisconsin sky as the first signs of fall colored the trees.

Fall fog

Fog adds something special on a fall morning in Galena. Ill.

Green Valley barn

It seems obvious how Green Valley near Galena, Ill. got its name

Galena white barn

An early morning drive down a country road near Galena took us here.

Valley of green

A tree-filled hillside surrounds farm buildings in Galena

Barn overgrown

Vines creeping up the side of a barn in Galena may be a sign of neglect, but they also make for a nice image.

Galena barn cows

Light fog can't keep cows from breakfast on an early fall morning in Galena.

This time of year, the corn in central Illinois  gets pretty high. But it creates some interesting compositions, like this one on Route 6 near La Salle Peru.

The Illini Lounge is a legit place, which probably pleases the owner of this barn.

On the backroads of Illinois, we came around a bend and saw this barn off in the distance. The clouds in the sky and the field in the foreground combined to create a lonely, almost abandoned look. Unfortunately, its a look not all that uncommon in American farming these days. Actual location, Routes 67 and 135.

Alone against a midwest sky, this farm near Augusta, Wi., has a four-legged guard.

Crops surround a solitary outpost north of Macomb, Ill.

The rising suns paints the morning sky along Route 67 near Macomb, Ill.

Fall colors a farm in Galena, Ill.

These fellows were really curious, even though I stood more than 100 yards away.

Snow harbors no favorites in a tough Wisconsin winter

Barns are all about texture
Looking at this image, can't you almost feel
it?

We were knee-deep in snow on an icy Wisconsin morning for this image.

The smallest things sometimes speak the loudest

Notice the four cows laying down in the same direction in a Good Hope, Ill., pasture.

The clouds seem to stretch forever over this barn.

A hillside of purple is grazing land for horses in Central Wisconsin.

A ride through through central Wisconsin came to a scretching halt when this scene presented itself.

Life on the farm can be isolated as in this stark image made in McDonnough County, Ill.

Sometimes the landscape dwarfs the barn