Shadow Shot Sunday ---# 64-- Silo Lane

Hi All, welcome to Shadow Shot Sunday.

The weather here in the heartland has been warm and sunny; perfect for taking great shadow shots . I have been snapping pictures like crazy. In the last few weeks I have taken oodles of photos of church picnic's, birthday parties, new babies and of course the local fair. But not a decent shadow shot among them. So I had to pull one out of my archives. I took this shot one day last fall when the Old Salt and I took a drive in the country.



For one reason or another I resisted using it for SSS. A few months ago I met someone who told me the legend of the silo, and ever since I've been waiting for the right time to tell the story of this old silo. But first, take a second look at this shot and you will see the silo in the background. It is not your average silo. Plus, it has quite a history. It was once part of a large family farm and sat beside a dairy barn. For many generations family members filled the silo with grain to feed the cows that were milked in the barn. Then the time came when the children didn't want to follow their father into the family business. Times got hard and the farmer got old. To make ends meet, the farmer sold off parts of the farm. First the livestock went, then the fields were leased. Finally, he started to sell an acre here and an acre there. When the farmer died there was not much left of his farm. A few acres with an old house and dilapidated barn and silo. It was sold to a builder who subdivided the land and built houses on it. That old silo kept calling to the builder and so he decided that since it sat near the road he would just leave it where it was and call the road leading to the homes, "Silo Lane."

Silo Lane is now gravel and the old silo still sits in the front yard of the first house on the lane just like it has for the last fifty odd years. Something about that old Silo must still be calling to people because it has never been torn down. Or maybe it is just that you can't live on Silo Lane without a real silo.

OK, I left out part of the story. The builder lived in that first house. When his kids got old enough to play outside alone he decided to do something with that old silo. He added windows and a door. Then came a spiral staircase and some flooring to create a four story playhouse for his children. He topped it all off by adding a lookout window in the roof of the tower, so his kids could be anything they wanted to be. And they were. The boys became the defenders of the Alamo one day and the knights in a castle the next. While the girls might be Ripunzel with flowing hair waiting for Prince Charming or dolls in their own lifesized doll house.

Have a great week everyone. For more great shadow shots click the camera badge to visit Hey Harriet and join in the fun.