The vestibule teardown, and a cat or two
We’ve been having a false spring here in the Midwest. That won’t last for very long. Snow is predicted for tomorrow. Never mind that though. While the temperatures were mild, Action Figure Pete swung his sledge hammer high and proud. Unbeknownst to me. This all happened while I was a million miles away at work. When I came home, we had our usual two ships passing in the night conversation that went something like this;
He: “look at the door I took down.” Me: “what door, what?!” He: “in the garage, go look at it”. Me: “why am I looking at a door?” etc. After a little bit more of this shorthand-style conversation I realized it had finally happened. The beautifully decrepit silo vestibule took a hit. And Action Figure Pete saved the door. But the rest of it, phhht. Gone.
I’m a little sad because I loved its decaying beauty. I’m pretty sure there is a word or phrase for it in Victorian gardening parlance but it’s not coming to mind right now. So I shall simply call it Decaying Beauty. Also eyesore and danger zone. Which is why it went down. In its place will be a brand, spanking new structure with a shiny, tin roof. But for now we have this:
Ow. It’s like having a tooth pulled. It kind of hurts. There’s this big gaping hole now. It’s looking kind of raw. So let’s go in for a closer look said I to no one but myself. Now that the shaky roof is down and I don’t need a hard hat to explore, I hopped into the abyss to explore the innards of ye olde silo.
We’re looking at the bottom of an empty silo here. This mechanism currently resting at the bottom would actually raise up and/or down to keep on top of the corn level, and thus shoot the corn out of the silo openings when needed. In the lower section of the photo you can see a couple of the silo doors that closed the openings when the silo was full.
Looking up, we see the interior of the silo. To the open sky. Because somehow along the way, the silo lost its top. Rumor has it that a big wind blew it off back in the 90s. It must have been quite a wind. Can you imagine all that corn filling up that space?
Perspective is deceiving here. What looks like a subway tunnel is actually a ladder going up the side of the silo. Those light-filled rectangles are the silo openings that allow the corn to come out and empty into the vestibule below (where that gaping hole is now). Someone at one time had to climb up that ladder and pull open the silo door to let that corn out. Action Figure Pete calls it a low-tech operation. I call it ag history. Also…scary.
Ah, here we have a view of that “subway tunnel” from the outside if that helps at all. Honestly, I would not want to be banging around on the inside of that.
Traipsing around this demolition site woke up the beast. I must be careful as I tread, for the fearsome barn cat had roused itself from its afternoon nap and was in stalking mode. At least he had the presence of mind to put on some eye liner.
It’s cat time! Here’s Rainy getting his sexy on:
Now Mr. Hans is working it!
These boys are brothers, one litter removed. And like brothers, they bicker and pretend to not like each other at times. But at the end of the day, I’m pleased to see this scenario:
Oh, and the vestibule door that Action Figure Pete saved? It’s in the garage, waiting to be reassigned.
great piece, enjoyed the article. love the way you make a simple piece come alive and interesting.
Very interesting Micka…You do have a great way with words!
On Sun, Mar 4, 2018 at 4:41 PM, milkhouse studio wrote:
> milkhousestudio posted: “We’ve been having a false spring here in the > Midwest. That won’t last for very long. Snow is predicted for tomorrow. > Never mind that though. While the temperatures were mild, Action Figure > Pete swung his sledge hammer high and proud. Unbeknownst to me. Th” >