Blue Ridge County - March/April 2014 - 66

G The Crumbling Tobacco Barn
Carol Miller

Guest
Column

CAROL MILLER'S MYSTERY, 'MURDER AND MOONSHINE' (DEC.'13), WAS
A LIBRARY JOURNAL DEBUT OF THE MONTH AND AN AMAZON BEST
BOOK OF THE MONTH. HER NEXT - 'A NIP OF MURDER'- IS DUE IN
DEC.'14. BOTH ARE SET IN RURAL SOUTHERN VIRGINIA. SHE LIVES IN
ROANOKE. VISIT WITH HER AT CAROLMILLERAUTHOR.COM AND ON
TWITTER @CMILLERMYSTERY.

SPRING HAS ITS FLOWERING dogwoods and daffodils. Fall brings the
sweet, crisp taste of fresh apples. But
the last days of winter are by far the
best for admiring the unrivalled
splendor of a former member of royalty - the tobacco barn. The neighboring tree branches are bare. The
surrounding scrub remains thinned
and dried. Even the most overgrown
field has not yet emerged from its
carpet of brittle, yellowed stalks. All
of which leave exposed the oncemighty tobacco barn, a glorious old
king rising up proudly to stand watch
over his pastoral domain.
Many of the venerable monarchs
aren't standing nearly so tall these
days. The brilliant azure sky of the
Blue Ridge reveals every last wrinkle
and age spot. The erosive wind and
weather, the relentless sun and seasons, and the many years of hard use
- followed by equally hard neglect -
have taken their inevitable toll. The
sawn timber or hewn logs are worn
and grey. The tin is pocked and
rusted. More often than not, the
decaying structures are nearing collapse. Some lean precariously to one
side, as though battling an invisible
hurricane. With others, the roof has
folded in on itself with the intricacy of
origami. And then there are the ones
seemingly being eaten by wild grapevines - squeezed, smothered, and
slowly digested like a hungry python
consuming its prey.
When gazing at such picturesque
and tattered relics of the past it can
be tempting to draw grand, sweeping analogies to the decline of Big
Tobacco, the ebb and flow of the
South, the ceaseless march of time,
66 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

Carol Miller: "As exciting as it is to see efforts being made to salvage the barns, I
must confess to hoping that the surveys miss a few building along the way."

and even mortality itself, perhaps. But
sometimes a barn is just a barn. A
simple storage shed. A children's
hideout. A shady respite for folks and
critters alike from a blistering, cloudless August afternoon. An intriguing,
elegant, and melancholy piece of history and architecture bound immutably together.
In both Virginia and North
Carolina, there are programs in the
works to save the barns. Surveys are
being done. Grant money is available for repair and stabilization. It's a
wonderful plan to preserve the farming and agricultural heritage of the
region for future generations.

Maybe a few travelers will even
mosey on over for a look and stay
awhile, discovering all the treasures
that the lovely rural landscape has to
offer.
But as exciting as it is to see the
commendable efforts being made to
salvage the barns, I must confess to
hoping that the surveys happen to
miss a few buildings along the way, or
that every effort at restoration isn't
quite as successful as it could be.
Because then I - and countless others
with the same affinity - will still be
able to enjoy the haunting beauty of a
crumbling tobacco barn for many
years to come.

http://www.CAROLMILLERAUTHOR.COM http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge County - March/April 2014

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