08/31/2022
Most out of staters won't realize the significance of these two pictures of an abandoned cabin and an abandoned barn. They are not unique and you will find them all over the state. Many ask - why not tear them down?
The reason is simple. The cabin was once someone's home where kids played and families broke bread. Where friends visited and nights were spent cooling off and watching the stars. Dad worked the fields and the barn held his hay or to***co and maybe the mules. And the kids built hay forts like I did in my childhood.
Note the rocker on the porch. Chances are, someone placed that there years after the place was abandoned to remind us of life that happened in the cabin. And note the flag on the barn that quietly states, "We're still here". In both buildings, there was life there once and that is something Tennesseans celebrate.
So when you're driving down that country lane and you see an abandoned building, just remember that's where a baby, or a calf, or a foal was born and a new adventure began and that Tennesseans don't forget what was just because of what is.