A couple months ago my husband and I ventured from our little suburban home in sunny California to the heart of the Midwest to visit family. All my relatives in IL for the most part are farmers and live in rural communities, which has a very different pace than SoCal. So for about six days I said good bye to my tiny backyard, which I once thought was huge, and hello to wide open spaces.

Southern IL is speckled with dilaptated barns and cribs amidst farms that go on forever. Like oceans, most farms go as far as your eye can see, comprising of 1000+ acres. A far cry from my two raised garden beds, these farms are big. And one of the things that kept catching John and I’s eye, were the broken down barns/cribs that once held hay, corn/grain or animals. But since commercialized farming came into town and with advancements in grain storage and barns needing to be much bigger to hold all the necessary tractors, there isn’t much a need for the old way of doing things. And rather than tear them down, a lot of farmers simply wait till time and the harsh winter & spring weather beat them down.

So I had a field day taking pictures! And one of the reasons I love John so much, is that he sees the beauty in the mundane and what most would overlook. Most importantly, he always stops the car and has an equally good time taking pics. Even though we were late for lunch at my grandparents house, it was well worth the stop.

Even though, I LOVE these images in a soft sepia tone, I simply couldn’t convert this last one and kept it in it’s glorious color. Isn’t it just spectacular?