I explore "White" churches and "Red" barns in this post.
But first . . .
As we turn the calendar 'leaf' to land on All Hallows Day,
we officially enter that awkward "Tweens" period, in which
we have many things to accomplish but begin to feel
somewhat superfluous. Our minds are turned with love toward
our western HOME while our hearts are being wrenched at parting!
A cute Sister missionary pose may represent our unease!
Sisters Melver and R. Campbell (serving in Keene, NH)
texted this image to Elder Warner to accompany an apology
regarding delayed submission of their DVR report.
(Incidentally, New Hampshire was recently judged
"State with Most Fall Spirit", also tied with Vermont for having
the most pumpkin patches per capita - facts worth noting!)
One highlight was receiving a slightly-delayed
hand-illustrated birthday card from granddaughter Bay.
(Grandpa Vince is grinning with JOY, but typically
has the corners of his smile turning down!)
A surprise on MLC morning when two "greenie" companions
of leaders traveling in to the Manchester building to train
were unexpectedly available to help me package fruit
and cookies that were part of the grab-and-go lunches
that replaced our former completely-prepared meals
served at mid-point of the all-day conferences.
Wish the masks did NOT interfere with our ability to
see what fine and handsome young men these are:
Elders Viazzo from Dublin, CA & Jenkins from Columbia, MO.
As the conference of leaders broke up, we took opportunity
to pose with three of the young missionaries from
our "flight group" back in June 2019. Below, Elder Alex Johnson
(right) is with co-Zone leader Elder Christian Petersen.
(They agreed to risk taking masks off.) Also there were
Sisters Semadeni & Worthington, (later Elder Dane Peterson).
I unearthed my MTC sign
as we pack up, and wanted some "after" shots.
We used this sign outside the Provo, UT MTC cafeteria to flag
missionaries there preparing to join NHMM, as our only means
to connect with them in our three days of overlap there.
(We love these young people SO DEEPLY!)
Finally on that busy Tuesday, Vince packed up these 11 Elders
(plus sisters/others in a separate mission vehicle,
for the last trip under his jurisdiction to Arlington, MA
to pick up 12 new Equinoxes to replace 'retiring' cars.
(Elders Larson, Ostvig, Peterson, Bigler, Allison,
M. Smith, with Hammond and Emmett in back)
Poetic words from Margaret Sangster to introduce my topic:
Long may the dear old spire,
from the heart of the busy town,
Lift the thought of the people
from all that binds it down
One New England tour service blogger has a current article that
"explores towering white church steeples set against vibrant fall colors."
The seasonal phenomenon that brings "us peepers" back
time after time is only ONE of the un-numberables we will miss.
Plentiful congregations with their church buildings represent
religious fervor in the 1820s that was part of the tapestry that prompted
young Joseph Smith Jr. to ask God directly which church to join.
Belief in the resulting Restored Gospel and affiliation with
the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is why
we serve. Ergo, churches in NE seems a fitting 'final' post topic,
because of that "purpose" and also because these figure prominently
in reasons we wanted to return to be HERE as missionaries.
(Forever thankful our 'selection' matched our 'assignment'.)
From the instant, we have relished so many picturesque church
structures, beautiful at any time, but GORGEOUS presenting
white steeples against luxurious autumn display!
(This post will be a selected travelogue to help us remember.)
Here, above, is a prominent church near the common in
Concord, MA. Below, just across the green, was this beauty.
And around the corner this classic, below!
Downtown Concord has an abundance to view. Indeed,
most established towns and villages across New England
also can offer a similar kind of beauty. Since religious
commitment was a strong ethic from Day One,
a church building was often the initial community project,
sometimes beginning more modestly, then updated,
enhanced or replaced with growth and prosperity.
A favorite children's book "When I was Young in the Mountains"
explains about the "public meeting house" serving functions
for worship, but also for civic meetings and education.
This, below, is a most recent addition to my visual collection,
from Canterbury Center, on my way to visit the Shaker Village.
Somewhat modest. Still iconic. Engendering calm.
Establishing community. Right across from the cemetery.
Here, below, is a professional/commercial photo that I
have borrowed from Charles Cormier (consider this advertising:
his photographs are stunning and available online)
of the chapel and foliage in Wonalancet, NH.
Its style that I identify as those zinging my heartstrings
is known as Gothic Revival. Church structures and layout
reflected the Old Country, of course, and offered a communal
beauty possible with combined resources for steeples,
finials, weather vanes, decorative moldings, turrets
and cupolas. Alike but also varied.
This First Church of Deerfield shown below is a beautiful
example of red brick and white steeple that I also love,
demonstrating as with so many others the difficulty
of photographing churches - distanced to include steeple
and not close enough to show details.
A final element that shows these off so well is
a foreground of water, like this from-the-lake view
of the church steeple in Danville, NH.
We saw glimpses like this along the Maine ocean coastline
while traveling there - though with choppier waves.
Here I transition:
The other "top" inspirational architecture that we have
so thoroughly enjoyed (and will miss) has been the abundance
and similar variety of barns, like this my FAVORITE on
Mountain Base Road in Goffstown, NH. I photographed it
in the three seasons worth capturing.
It's a slightly dressier version of the barn in this photo, below,
by Jeff Newcomer, (Partridge Brook Reflections)
near Keene, NH, in the Monadnoc region that I was able to
purchase as matted print and obtain rights to reprint
for our Christmas 2019 from New England card.
Jeff Newcomer, retired physician of 30 years,
has devoted significant time as traveling photographer
dedicated to preservation via images of historic structures before
they collapse completely. Here, perhaps, is one main difference
between churches and barns - the former often receives funding
for restoration by "Mother Church" or at least civic authorities.
(Alas, and of course, there are broken down churches, too.)
Here, below, is the ceramic barn with its classic gambrel roof,
cupola and vane, that I purchased from Marylyn Yonika
out of Wilton, NH. Already awaiting our return,
(transported back in March),
it will serve to represent and remind us of all we miss.
The artist studied the historic barn structures amidst which
she lived for accuracy and realism. Therefore she included details
such as the cupola/vent on top, the wagon door on back, and on
front the hood extension over the hay track where a hoist would lift
forage through loft doors to be stored above the rafters.
This hillside barn is a favorite from the uphill drive
to the Joseph Smith Birthplace monument site
in Sharon, VT.
Delightful to have acquaintances aware
and willing to share barns they see. Here's one, below,
by way of friend Anita Nickulas, who spied this somewhere
not too far from Manchester, and sent image along.
Studying to learn more about barns, I can label this one
as an English barn, with dome hooded silo.
This beautiful barn, below, is from Enfield Shaker Village,
and shows one smart innovation, the high-drive entry.
Wagons could drive up the incline outside, into the stable barn
at loft level, have hay unloaded into elevated storage,
then often continue straight out the barn and down
a second incline. Ever tried to back up a team and wagon?
From there, the fodder would be distributed "using the
gravity system" - that is, from off-load level above
to stalls below.
Barns and other farm structures were designed for
practicality, of course. Pure blessing that folks prized beauty
where it could be incorp'ed. Here is a woodblock style illustration
from my field guide. It was part of promotion for this style of barn
pitched to New England farmers researching what to build.
In the first century of settlement, barns were planned and saved for
during several years. While some farmers could also be "framers",
they most often seemed to employ a "master builder" for their
projects. The masters, heavily recruited to come to the colonies,
had a small crew of skilled timber joiners who could work
efficiently and fast. Sometimes these structures were built during
a community barn-raising, but this perhaps is romanticized.
Weathered structure, below, is a side-hill barn on Shaker Road
in Canterbury. Early barns were built from hardwoods,
to resist deterioration. But as forests were used up,
hardwoods were reserved for the main structural members
or pinning pegs. Vast and rich is the vocabulary of barns.
Structure elements: Ridgepole, purlin, tie beam, post, brace, sill.
Styles of rafter construction: king post (single) or queen (double).
Wood preparation began as "scribe" ruled where a mortise was
cut into the first beam, then the tenon (peg) estimated onto
the second, carved, fit to mortise, then trimmed up to match shape
and planes of the first beam. Later, with machining, "square" ruled
involved more standardized measuring, cutting to 'fit' size,
and commercial stock availability.
Continuing the vocabulary, hand tools used in early days
were broad hatchet, adze, fro and spoke shave.
Architectural styles included English, gambrel roofed,
balloon, high-drive, side-hill, gable front or side, cellar shed.
This stylized barn at Canterbury Shaker Village represents
buildings originally at that site, with top "cupola" also called "vent".
(Explanation: manure was an important resource, often stored
at the ground floor, sometimes below the animal stalls level,
where it helped climatize the interior until needed as fertilizer.)
This structure from Shelburne Museum, VT, is a classic
Shaker round barn, useful because the dairymen could
stand in the center and efficiently refill troughs for milk cow
stalls around the perimeter.
Next, below, is the picturesque barn toward the back of
a home lot along Historic Deerfield Main, with gray-brown aged
wood siding contrasting so wonderfully with the white
clapboard sides of the home it backs.
Just across and up the street is this smaller barn-like
out building, near the raised garden.
Why were barns so often painted red?
Seems there is not ONE absolute answer.
Seems there is not ONE absolute answer.
Farmers wanted to protect their precious timberworks from
deterioration, so they needed some kind of coating, which
began as somewhat plentiful and inexpensive linseed oil
that dried relatively quickly and hard but also rather orange.
For a more desirable color, they added ferrous oxide (rust)
which apparently also was a natural fungicide. (Barns in the
arid west would never have a roof moss problem!) Later, milk
was added by dairy farmers to extend or to improve texture.
Red became the fashion color of barns.
(When whitewash became less expensive,
white barns in turn became popular.)
This pastoral scene, below, is made complete with gray barn
and shade-resting sheep, in Old Sturbridge Village, MA.
Also in Sturbridge is this more traditional English barn . . .
. . . and here is the view inside with stalls below
and straw storage visible.
Couldn't resist a parting shot of this gambrel roof farmhouse,
which shares the yard (opposite side) with the barn above.
I won't ever tire of 'confronting' this kind of view:
green 'fields', blue sky, and red barn.
At the end of this journey, there are things we WON'T miss:
food preparation for large zone conferences;
late Daily Vehicle Reports each month;
doing laundry in a shared washer room;
walking the groceries in from a distant parking lot;
confronting often the temporary nature of volunteer work;
returning after a day of office work too tired to resist that nap;
tense nerves at double-merge on/off ramps on the highways;
being away from our loved ones in Utah, Idaho & Arizona;
plus all the COVID-19 particular challenges that colored
the last half year of our time in New Hampshire.
What we will MISS --like memorable red barns & white steeples --
are the many friends, fellow members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and beloved missionaries.
I dislike goodbyes with all my heart, when my emotions take control.
So I'll sign off this time with --
God be with ye!
Until we meet again!
