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.
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.
