The\u00a0Midwest family dairy farm.\u00a0 Once an iconic edifice of the American dream has now become the forgotten ruins of the rural landscape.\u00a0 This stop gave me an eerie yet\u00a0sentient\u00a0look into the memories of my childhood.\u00a0 While this barn was not in my family, it was where I would spend a good portion of my time when visiting the farm of my great aunt in Falmouth MI.\u00a0 There was never a time when this\u00a0barn\u00a0was not a bustling hub of activity.\u00a0 Holsteins in and out all day, instinctively practicing their rituals of feeding and milking.\u00a0 Hay bails being slung from the loft, silage being apportioned in the troughs, the vacuum of milk lines being connected,\u00a0all accompanied by the\u00a0custodial task of cleaning the mess left behind by a heard of cows. Walking through the front door of the barn after more than 25 years was more than a step back in time, it was a step into time frozen.\u00a0 So many elements remain unchanged and yet the activity has stopped.\u00a0 No cows, no bails, no silage, and no one busy about.\u00a0 Only the rustling and cooing of a few pigeons, and the creaking of the metal door in the breeze remain.\u00a0 If memories were to be visible, they would once again fill this barn to the rafters where hay and straw once resided.<\/p>\n
The farm was found by Gerald DeRuiter Sr. in (?) Milking operations ceased on 2014.<\/p>\n
Please view these images as a tribute to the farm and the way of life it procured.\u00a0 They are shot only using available light and\u00a0not edited in hopes of preserving the authentic feel of actually being there.\u00a0 All are shot with a Sony a9.<\/p>\n
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