trainer takes

This Old House

Wisconsin

A few pics taken while on a recent foray with the Air National Guard near Tomah, Wisconsin.

Gettysburg

In great deeds something abides.  On great fields something stays.  Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision place of souls.  And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (who led the 20th Maine on Little Round Top)
Address at the dedication of the Maine Monuments at Gettysburg in October, 1889

Nyakaliro

A fishing village along the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania.

Hardware

A zealous locksmith died of late,
And did arrive at Heaven's gate.
He stood without and did not knock,
Because he meant to pick the lock.

(Camden's Remains, 1623)

Ohio Steeples

The Garden of People

The tranquil winds murmur beneath the church steeples,
Bending grass blades in grief, over gardens of people.

Each furrow's well-tended,irrigated with tears,
Every plot's marked by stones, with the names,and the years,

Here lies: Daisy and Rose, there is Poppy and Mum,
Near a Jack-In-The-Pulpit, now resting his tongue,

Here lies: Babies-Breath wilted, and nearby Sweet William,
Oh, how Holly and Heather's cheeks, once glowed Vermillion,

Here's Veronica, Lily, Alfalfa and Hazel,
Near Olive, and Myrtle, Timothy and Sweet Basil,

Belladonna, and Rose, Marguerite, and dear Iris,
Near a Wandering Jew, who was felled by a virus,

There's Violet,and Ginger, here's Pepper and Jasmine,
Over Solomon's seal, Bleeding Hearts mourn what has been,

Here Wormwood surrounds each Old-Man-In-The-Spring,
Bugleweeds blow out taps, Birds-Of-Paradise sing,

Walk softly frail mortals, with your Bittersweet thoughts,
Where Bluebells toll silent, over Forget-Me-Nots,

For whatever men plant in the depths of Earth's womb,
God will soon resurrect, and again they may bloom,

Thus the winds murmer gently beneath the church steeples,
Over harvests forthcoming, in the gardens of people.

Matthew Frederick Blowers III

The Old Barn

 Ohio Barn (upon discovering a barn on an ancestor’s forgotten homestead)

Fingers run down bent beams
To touch twisted nails;
Tracing swirled wood grain scenes
Revealed in faded paint by wind’s assail.

Eyes pursue sagging timber
Upward through broken stairs;
Searching vainly the chamber
For some trace of former owner’s care. 

Ears bend to creak and groan
Of tired gates and door;
Swinging on hinges like lone
Leaves grasping limbs misdt storm’s roar.

Fivefold senses contemplate
Wood, steel, corrugated roof;
But long for only sensate   
Touch, glance, voice, tangible proof
That ancient photos are true roots.

Jon Trainer

Here is a collection of barn shots.  Included are pictures of an ancestor's barn I discovered in Meigs County, Ohio.  You can still make out the name "Trainer" on the barn door.  The Trainers settled on this homestead in 1835, built this particular barn in 1926, and finally left the farm in 1949.  No one along my side of the family knew this place existed until I discovered it a couple years ago.  What a find!  I only wish I could talk to the men and women who made their livelihood within these walls.

Fall in Ohio

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen nights and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night's decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

Emily Jane Bronte