A while back I had the opportunity to take a nice road trip with my mom, and I used it to introduce her to a photographic feature I’ve visited many times: the Gray house in Sims, a ghost town southwest of New Salem.

I’ve driven past this farm multiple times, since it’s not too far from my place. I finally found the right conditions to photograph it.

This is a grand old house, and I can’t begin to imagine the memories made therein. It’s seen its better days, unfortunately, but thankfully we can still appreciate its beauty. It seems that average houses are so much larger now than before, which makes this home even more impressive.

This enormous barn sits atop a hill in picturesque fashion, and I’m delighted to share it with you. This was part of a recent photo jaunt in which I experienced some unique conditions and spectacular timing, and I’m making the most of it.

A friend actually posted a photo of this farm, taken from the road, a while back, and I was astonished that I hadn’t seen it before given its proximity to my property. So, the next Saturday morning I had available I bolted over to take a look. I had a new set of tires on my truck and was eager to see if they performed better on snow, ice, or even mud than my last ones (let’s face it, they couldn’t do worse), and I hadn’t been out on a photography jaunt in far too long.

Okay, it isn’t on the tracks any more…but this is the other side of the old Union Pacific rail car I featured in my previous post.

This one’s sitting down, lying down…in any case, it’s coming down. What a grand ol’ barn it must have been in its heyday. In fact, the way it’s sticking together even as it settles is a testimony to how well the craftsmen of the day put them together.

What can I say? It’s been a busy winter. An endless winter. Even an excruciating winter. But I did get out a couple of times with my camera. Then I found myself too busy to post anything. Sigh.