Have you ever looked at the door of an old building and wanted to open it and walk inside? It’s like taking a peek into the past. A lot of history has taken place behind those old doors. Perhaps it’s the writer in me that is curious to know the story behind each old door. I don’t mean the door itself, but the story of the people who once occupied the building.
Before the old timber frame barn on the farm was demolished a few years ago, I spent some time looking around and taking pictures, both inside and out. One of the photos I took was of the front door of the barn. It was the old, split door often found in barns. The top half could be opened separately from the bottom. I also took a photo of the old latch on the barn door. It was weathered and worn, just like the wood in the door. As I looked at that latch, I wondered how many people had grabbed that latch and opened the door over the years. It had been on the door when my folks bought the farm when I was around ten years old.
As I turn the latch and open the door in my mind, I can still picture how the barn looked at that time. As you walked into the barn, there were wooden horse stalls on the left side with horse harness and equipment hung on the posts. On the right side of the barn, the cows were kept. There were old wooden stalls and stanchions for the cows. Looking back there was probably room for only 14 to 16 cows. A track hung from the middle of the aisle behind the cows and curved around to exit through the double door on the backside of the barn, leading to the barnyard. An old manure bucket hung from the track. A couple years after buying the farm, the horse stalls and old stanchions were torn out and replaced with a cement floor with gutters behind the cows, and modern stanchions. There was room for 22 cows and a small calf pen. That’s not very big by today’s standards, but it sufficed for many years.
The old track and manure bucket remained, but only went to the side of the barn where the cow stalls were originally located. We had to carry the manure from the old horse stall side of the barn to the manure bucket. That bucket had seen a lot of “trips” from the barn to the manure pile behind the barn. Sometimes it didn’t latch very securely if we overloaded the bucket and it tended to trip and dump the load in the middle of the aisle. Dad wasn’t a very happy camper when we dumped the load inside the barn.
Thinking about that old barn door brings back a lot of memories. It really is a door to the past. When the barn was torn down, I saved a portion of the front door before it got buried with the rest of the barn. It still has the old latch attached.
There was something special about those double doors. You could open the top half and leave the bottom half closed. The top usually stood open in the summer allowing barn swallows to enter and build their nests on the ceiling beams. In the winter they were closed but did a poor job of keeping the cold weather outside. It found its way through every crack in that door and often froze the pipes and drinking cups closest to the door.
The bottom half was also a good place to rest your arms as you stood in the doorway and looked outside. I often peered out into the darkness of the night and watched as a cow, that I had just let out after being milked, disappeared into the night. A chorus of crickets could be heard out there, hidden in the darkness, as they conducted their nightly symphony. That open barn door became a front row seat to their wonderful music.
I can still picture my father standing in the door after the milking was done, looking out into the night, with our dog beside him, standing on his back legs with his paws on the door, also looking out into the night. It was quite a sight.
Yes, those old barn doors bring back a lot of memories when you turn the latch and open them up. Even if the building is long gone, they can open the door to the past as you picture them again in your memories.
Close your eyes and think of a door that was once important in your life. It can be any type of building: a house, barn, school, or shed, even an old outhouse if you wish. Picture that door in your mind. Now take hold of the doorknob or latch and turn it. Slowly open the door and take a peek inside. Enter the building, take some time to look around, and remember. It’s your door to the past. Walk around, examining all the details you can remember. What smells and sounds do you associate with the scene. Keep your eyes closed, breath deeply through your nose, and remember. I hope you find all the memories behind that door delightful.
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