Saturday, June 26, 2010

Chew Mail Pouch

This is another drive-by shot of a Mail Pouch barn, taken the other day on our quest to try out our GPS. It is not the greatest shot, but I always like these barns. There is a nice little article about them here....and at the bottom of that page is this link to lots of great photos of Mail Pouch barns.

Then there is the photo below, taken the same day as the above. Again we are moving.
And this one is not even the quality of the above but it is the one that calls to my heart. It makes me feel like I could be looking at an East Tennessee farm...it just has that feel for me. All the time we were down in the southern part of the state, I kept thinking we might eventually spot a patch of tobacco. But that was not the case....

It really doesn't take much to make me think of Tennessee...I guess it will always hold first place in my heart. We were talking today about when we lived down there, we lived in this little house, which would be a shack to most people, but home to us. The side of the hill had actually been dug away, cut out...whatever you want to call it to make room for part of the kitchen. As I think about it now, I bet that part was added later after the original house was built. But it was there as long back as I can remember.

The back door opened off it, and even though we had no air conditioning, in the hottest of summertime days we opened one window in our bedroom, and opened the back door and the house cooled right out...allowing us to sleep just fine. I guess to be fair, I will tell you the sun did not fully hit the place till later in the morn, and our house was in the shade fairly early. So the surrounding area did not have the time to build and hold the heat.

Even though the house burned down sometime back, that place will always hold a special place in our heart. I honestly think it is my favorite place on earth.

12 comments:

  1. You've gotten a couple of good pictures to add to your collection. I can understand why you think so fondly of Tennessee.

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  2. There's just no place like HOME, is there Rose? I have such fond memories of the house I grew up in in VA. My house did not burn down--but they renovated it and it no longer looks like my house. I can't even drive by it anymore... Too upsetting.

    I had to ask George what a Mail Pouch barn was --or what was Mail Pouch tobacco. I obviously never knew anything about tobacco... ha ha

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. I've seen these barns on blogs but never in person.
    Are you doing geocaching or just finding your way?

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  4. Love the barn, truly midwest to me.
    We all have our favorite place I be. I think mine was (it has been torn down) the first house we bought and raised all our kids. We lived there 38 years---progress took our little farm but it is always in my heart. The most fun time of our lives. MB

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  5. I grew up with these barns everywhere. Sadly most are disappearing. I took quite a few photos when we first moved back here but I've slacked off. My heart flutters a little each time I catch sight of one on our drives.
    Love the setting in the last pic.

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  6. Two find pictures and excellent information. Unfortunately, I've never seen a mail pouch barn in person... so it's nice to see them via your pictures.

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  7. A very nice, poignant story, Rose. I haven't seen a Mail Pouch barn for a long time, but that's probably because I haven't been in the right place(s).

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  8. Rose: I remember when so many barns had that painting.

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  9. Wish we had more picturesque barns in Alabama. Enjoyed reading about the house you had in Tennessee. I grew up in an old Victorian that had a hall down the middle and transoms at the top of the doors. We opened the transoms to get a good air flow and had window fans to pull the breeze through. In fact, on a hot summer day, we opened the front door, turned on the big black kitchen window fan and the breeze swept through every room on that side of the house.

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  10. It's good to look back on happy times, Rose. I like hearing about your childhood because you have such lovely memories.

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  11. I adore Tennessee and would move there tomorrow if the kids would move with us.......but their lives are here in Canada.

    Gill in Canada

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  12. I used to see the Mail Pouch barns everywhere I went. I haven't seen any for some time. I guess most have fallen down or faded out. Tennessee is a beautiful state and I know when a place holds memories for us, it is even more special.

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