Shades of brown

So many of the old wooden barns and homesteads that scatter the prairies are in such a bad state, unfortunately. This one was photographed SE of Calgary, on 14 April 2014, when I went driving the backroads for the day with my youngest daughter. Some of the roads were familiar to me, but others were new territory, which gave us a chance to discover some different abandoned barns. We knew where our destination was going to be, more or less, though it was disappointing that the heat distortion was just too great to get distant, zoomed photos. Unfortunately, it was quite a hazy day, which didn't help. Once we got really close, the problem thankfully went away. I liked the patterns of the fields in the distance and the various shades of brown.

Who knows why old barns and homesteads are left to crumble? Farmers are very busy people and probably not too concerned about an old, rotting building on their land. Many are no doubt living on a tight budget, too. I'm just happy that I have an occasional chance to photograph a few of these wonderful old barns and homesteads - I can think of at least three that have disappeared since being photographed, which is always a sad feeling, I find.