Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

[OM] Abandoned buildings (was "Nathan's PAD 19/2/2012: police drama on A

Subject: [OM] Abandoned buildings (was "Nathan's PAD 19/2/2012: police drama on Avenida Vicente Ramos")
From: Joel Wilcox <jfwilcox@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:44:53 -0600
On Tue, Feb 21, 2012, at 06:51 AM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
> Spain's population is not falling, but it is not rising either like
> Mexico. When it comes to land use, this country reminds me of the US more
> than any other place I have lived. There are lots of abandoned farm
> buildings in both countries. In Spain the widespread migration from
> countryside to the cities occurred during the past 50-70 years, so traces
> of human activity are still visible on abandoned agricultural land.

Abandoned agricultural buildings are some of my favorite subjects,
exclusively the old wood frame buildings.  Even Thomas Jefferson in the
middle of the 18th century complained about Americans' use of wood for
building everything.  He said it's like a tabula rasa every 50 years. 
My dad told me one of the problems is that a newly-painted barn counts
as an improved building for tax purposes, so farmers have a disincentive
to maintain their wood buildings, which is a pain to do anyway.  Also
advancements in technology and technique, such as grain dryers, make
buildings like corn cribs quaint and obsolete. 

I do love a barn.  Sprained all the ankles I've got jumping down from
hay lofts.  My grandpa's barn burned down in the 1960s when I was a kid
and I still feel like a great soul passed on that day.

Joel W.


-- 
http://www.fastmail.fm - A fast, anti-spam email service.

-- 
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz