The Whisper of Hay Dust
Hay dust filters through the sunlight, drifting in lazy circles until it settles back on wooden edges.
Ancient grain, a pile of manure (well-aged), mice scent, and dried out leather add to the ambience as I wonder at the memories held in these log walls. Memories that don't belong to me, yet I can feel them just the same.
I sense their ghosts in the warm air.
The thousands of brush strokes from a curry comb flinging sagebrush and dust and cockleburs to the floor. Fragments of blankets and saddles and halters and breastcollars and bridles adorn the mangers and posts and walls.
The milk cows that must have stomped and shifted their weight, earning choice words from the milker.
The teams that pulled wagons and sleds and equipment long rusted. Their harnesses now so crispy and dry that they will never grace the back of a horse again. The jingle of their traces has gone still.
The cats who waited for a warm spray of morning milk for breakfast, mewling and rubbing against a worn denim leg.
Evidence shows they all were here once.
Long ago.
Today it was just me, and my dogs, and the whisper of hay dust drifting in the sunlight.
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QUESTION: Do you like the new style of linking to former posts? Or do you like the older version wherein I include the title of the post?
Posted by Carol at 1/22/2012 10:57 PM 
Categories: Ranchlife, Wyoming, Photography, History
Tags: ranch Wyoming history
Categories: Ranchlife, Wyoming, Photography, History
Tags: ranch Wyoming history
Carol, one of your best!
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Love the post! Any pics of the outside of the barn?
And I prefer the old way of linking, with the title, which would catch my eye and make me curious!
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Like the old format better
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Ummm... There's some of it with our Centennial sign from last summer...
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Love your pictures and the story. Your imagination is awesome! I can just see the cats sitting there waiting for a squirt of milk!
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Thanks, Doris, I'm so glad you liked it!
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Loved the post. I like the old style links that includes the titles. It helps me remember if I already read them or if there is one I missed. Yes, I do recognize prior posts by the titles.
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I really like this posting and the narrative you added to the photographs. It brought the photographs to life, ever so briefly.
Adding titles to your links helps peak my interest to check it out. Unlike Renea, I don't remember other titles, but am pleasantly surprised when I recall former posts, once I see them.
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I'm with everyone else...I like the titles. Some of them catch my eye & I go back to reread them.
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I'll chime in here, too...I like the titles best.
This entry was really exceptional today!
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Love this post! And all of them, really. Another vote for titles, please!
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Took me back... I used to squirt milk into cats' mouths... probably daily. Love those photos! Especially the one with sunshine streaming through cracks in the walls.
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Oops, forgot to vote. I like the titles of old posts too.
That old saddle looks so sad.
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