September 25, 2020
On Friday morning, I began to work my way – slowly – back toward my departure point in Moline, Illinois. I knew from my trip up that there were a lot of farms and barns that I wanted to stop and photograph along the way, and I wanted to take my time. My stops included some unique locations, such as an impromptu vehicle graveyard just off Route 151 at Route 26 in Wisconsin, where dump trucks, construction and roadwork equipment, farming equipment, pickup trucks, and even school buses sit abandoned and falling into rusty heaps. It was pretty astonishing. In that same area was a very nice old barn, and a “tree” made of reinforcement rod with colorful bottles adorning its “branches.”
Another farm along Oakwood Road off Highway 151 holds an array of defunct equipment including an old gleaner combine, two or three old sedans, tractors, indistinguishable farm implements, and at least one apparently operational pickup truck nestled around the base of a couple of silos. The same property contains a really interesting collapsing barn that looks for all the world as though some alien giant took a huge bite out of the roof.
Perhaps the most fascinating property to me was one located at Bristol Road at Highway 73. It was jammed with buildings crammed to the rafters with a menagerie of junk, and fields filled with rusting vehicles of almost every stripe. Old motorcycles, motorized scooters, bicycles, a classic VW bus, clothing, office furniture, rope, buckets, tires, Christmas lights, and home appliances. It was astonishing.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you the squirrel story. As I was driving slowly through the small town of Ridgeway, Wisconsin I was required to come to a complete stop in the middle of the (thankfully deserted) two-lane highway right in front of St. Bridget’s Catholic Church. The problem was a squirrel. I’m not sure whether the squirrel was just confused or if he was militant, but he ran from the side of the road directly into the middle of the pavement holding an enormous acorn. He stopped there, and simply starred at me (in defiance, it seemed) as I approached, unmoving until I came to a complete stop. I did in fact come to a complete stop, and if you’d been in the vehicle with me, you’d have witnessed me throwing my hands in the air and shouting at the squirrel: “Oh, come on!” When the squirrel was sure that he had stopped me, he simply turned and scampered on across the road – never even considering discarding his enormous acorn in the process. It was absolutely crazy. If you don’t see the humor in this, all I can say is “You had to be there.”
