One of the most impulsive things I ever did was to restore the four barns at Bedlam Farm. It cost a lot of money – all my money – but I could not bear to see them collapse. In the last few years, we have lost so many barns that I often ride around photographing them so there will be some record of them. I don’t mean this as a lament. All things have their time, and in a world where there are so many priorities, it is not for me to say barns must be preserved above all other things.

Still, I connect with them, see them as pround and beautifully simply structures. They evoke so much, and it is a gift to be able to walk in them, close my eyes, hear the voices inside of them, the wind creaking through the beautiful old wood. And I thank them.

I am glad I restored my barns, and that for many years, they will stand in testimony to a glorious past.