One of the things I love about Sonoma County is the plethora of BARNS! Sonoma County is very rural and it's two highest producing crops are wine grapes and milk, in that order. Not long ago, Sonoma County and particularly Petaluma, was known as the Egg Capital of the World. We have the leftover chicken barns that are literally melting into the ground to prove it.
Having grown up on a dairy farm in Corvallis Oregon, the coolest thing to do during the summer was to play in the barn where it was shaded. We would play "king of the mountain" by tipping bales of hay off the top of the 50 foot stack to deter a sibling from successfully scaling up the side to take over the reign.
Then, being not too bright, we managed to dig a diagonal tunnel from the top of the stack to the bottom, creating a slide. I'm not sure if I had more pieces of straw injected into my veins, or more rusty nails penetrate my sneakers. I was the tetanus shot queen of the roost!
It's a wonder my brothers and I are all still alive after surviving a hurtling bale of hay, a tunnel not caving in and smothering us, and the wrath of our father when he found out what idle hands had been up to all day. These are fond memories, and every time I see a cool looking barn, I smile.
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