Fire! Fire! Fire!

Last Thursday, my neighbor's dairy barn burnt to the ground!

What a sad sight....

This barn has been in use, milking cows, for at least two generations. Now it's all gone.

Alright, men, lets get everything cleaned up!

D. Martin (center), the owner, gives instructions to the many, many friends and neighbors who dropped everything to come and help clean up the destruction. It was such a blessing to see the Christian community pull together and help someone in need!

Someone, who owns an excavating company, brought his big equipment in and made the job so much easier.

To help clean up, they started bonfire to finish burning all the timbers.

Scoop that junk out of there!

There was a lot of work to be done!

Charles, the oldest son on the farm, uses their skid loader, which they usually scrap up manure with, to scoop up the ruins of their barn.

What a sight!

Before...

I used to milk occasionally for the Martins when they would go on vacation. It was a nice parlor to milk in, and I enjoyed it. There milk, right out of the tank, was probably the best tasting milk I've ever had.

...and after.

But those days are over now. It's hard to even recognize the place.

The Martins are a wonderful family, with ten children, that I've really enjoyed getting to know. Their sprite through all this has amazed me. They've been joyful, in spite of their circumstances and very thankful that no people nor cows were hurt.

So, where do we go from here?

The Martins are considering growing produce for me next year to send to you all with the CSA!

~ Jonathan