A new perspective

When driving through the farm fields of Saskatchewan, I’ve always been curious as to why abandoned barns and shacks are left barely standing, ready to return to the soil. I find them oddly beautiful structures and each one is like looking at a house of cards ready to tumble. Why not knock them down and clear the area?

In an upcoming SaskScapes podcast I spent an afternoon driving around my guest, Bill Warrington on his family farm. I asked him this very question. The next thing I knew Bill was cutting across his own wheat field, me bumping along beside him in his white truck, and then we came to a stop.

There stood (or rather leaned) an old wooden house. Bill is so proud of his family history and in 2011 had a plaque erected to honour the Warrington family homestead built one hundred years earlier. This was the home in which Bill’s ancestors lived, 13 children raised in this small shack! We mused about the pressure of having to get along under cramped quarters.

And in that moment, I realized why many of these dishevelled monuments are left standing. Within their toppling walls there are family stories to be remembered. How many of these landmarks are left standing to preserve the past? It was also pointed out to me, that in many cases they provide shelter for wildlife. I’ll never look at them quite the same way again.