I live in a barn. A red barn. In Vermont.
If that doesn’t conjure up a slew of homey Rockwellian images, I don’t know what else will. Visions of lush green summers, golden autumns, and snowy white winters aside, surely there must be challenges. I mean, can it really be as great as it sounds? Well . . .
It’s even better!
In fact, you just might say I’m living the dream. When I first moved to Vermont from Southern California all those years ago, this was the idyllic lifestyle I had imagined. And though the “city” life of Vermont is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of big city California, I had never quite found Vermont to be all that I originally envisioned.
Until I moved into a barn, that is.
So what’s so great about life in a barn house? More importantly, what have I learned from living in my little red barn? Surely there must have been some hard lessons to be had. Deep insights to be gained.
Perhaps. But that’s for another day. I’m keeping this one on the lighter side. I get too damn heavy and intense when I’m all fired up. This one’s gonna be fun.
25 Lessons Taught from the Barn House
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Location is everything. Find a home with spirit like yours . . . your soul will thank you.
- Simplicity is luxury. There’s something to this minimalist trend. I’ve learned that an open uncluttered space leads to an open uncluttered mind.
- Life without a TV is so much more interesting. I don’t miss it one bit. And I’ve never been so productive in all my days.
- Baby cows can’t tell the difference between dumbbells and buckets of feed. On my morning farmer’s walks, the calves would run up to me with insistent moos and hungry eyes. They could never quite figure out that I was carrying weights, not buckets of food.
- Also, the only thing bigger than baby cow eyes are baby cow tongues.
- Training outside is magical. The fresh air, the cool breeze, the warm sun on your back. It’s almost enough to make you forget about the 50lbs of iron in each hand. Almost.
- Hummingbird moths are the coolest insect ever. Seriously. Look them up.
- Eggs taste much better when you’ve gathered them yourself.
- But some chickens are so damn cranky. One girl, named Tongue-Tied — because she once somehow got a string tied around her tongue – just can’t stand being handled. Or she just doesn’t like me. Or she just doesn’t like me stealing her eggs out from under her.
- Fortunately, chicken pecks don’t hurt. But they are funny.
- And chickens poop. A lot. Hold them at your own risk.
- Getting the mail is a chore. At least when it takes you 5 minutes to walk to your mailbox. Once a week is more than enough these days.
- The summer mist over the valley creek is most beautiful in the early morning when paired with an orange-pink sunrise.
- Quiet tranquility is the best environment for deep thought and reflection. I’ve learned more about who I am and who I want to be than in all the years of my life before.
- Dirt roads make for dusty cars. And they make for terrible traction in the snow.
- Snow drifts and barn doors are mutually attracted to each other. Even if we only get a foot of snow, there will be 3 feet right at my doorstep. So I shovel it out, go inside for an hour, and next time I open up my door the 3 feet of snow is back. Even if it had stopped snowing hours ago.
- There is no crack too small for a ladybug to squeeze in through.
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Sunsets are most beautiful when there’s no city to get in their way.
- Cold beer tastes best when drunk in a sweltering barn house. This place is HOT in the summer. Fortunately, there’s no one around to peer through the windows so I just hang out in my boxers, and sometimes *gasp* even my birthday suit. Oh yeah. I’m that guy.
- The sky is so much more than just background out here. It’s alive.
- In the summer evenings, all the world’s fireflies gather in the field outside my window for one big sparkly lightning bug festival. Every single one of them.
- Sleeping in total silence under a vaulted post and beam ceiling provides the best rest to be had.
- And waking with the sunrise and the birds singing is nothing short of glorious. During the summer I don’t need an alarm clock at all. I wake up naturally and well rested. I’m even up before Larry the rooster.
- Speaking of Larry, it’s good to be the rooster. ‘Nuff said.
- In the night sky above my barn house, there are so many more thousands of stars. In the city, we lose sight of all the stars. It makes me wonder what else we’ve lost sight of.
I want to give a special shout out to my friend Aaron over at Caffeine For Life for providing the idea behind this post. Thanks buddy!
Cheers!
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This is so interesting to me. I’m curious about what motivated you to make a barn your home? If it wasn’t a deliberate choice I wonder about how you made that transition and accepted “barn life?” Like really, I think this is so cool.
Also, no TV? I gave up cable – but all TV? Plus, I didn’t know you had all those animals around too? And what a transition from Southern California? Sunshine and sand to chickens and snow? You’ve got some guts. This is existential stuff! Like a farmer pilgrim on some sort of spiritual quest or something.
Thanks for sharing.
Hey Aaron, I’ve been living here sice June. When I was moving out of my South Burlington apartment I knew I wanted someplace away from the city. I was looking for quiet and simplicity. And I was very picky. I was imagining a certain type of place and a certain type of lifestyle. I was very fortunate to find this place. It met all my requirements, and it’s even better than I thought it would be.
The grumpy chikens belong to my neighbor’s/landlords. They’ve been very kind about letting me pick eggs and teaching me the ways of chickens. The calves belong to a farmer just down the road. He used the field out front to graze them in rotation over the summer/fall. Baby cows grow quick!
As for TV. I’m glad to be rid of it. I made a deliberate choice that I didn’t need, or want, a TV. I was looking to use my little freetime for deeper learning and growth. I even gave up internet service for my first 4 months and was doing just fine without it. Then I got the crazy idea to start a blog. So I signed up.
Cheers!
Wow! Like Aaron I’m very curious about how you even came about living in a barn. I saw the pictures you posted the other day of the interior, it does look very serene. You are so lucky!
Hi Carmen, I’m glad you stopped by. Life here IS serene. Sometimes it feels like it’s a dream. I never knew home could be so quiet. My previous place was right next to a busy intersection, across the corner from the local highschool, and near a fire station. You can imagine the constant noise. And I lived there for around 10 years.
I came about living in this barn because I was going through a life transition. Many things around me were changing: relationships, family, career. I hate the term upheaval, but that’s how it felt. So I knew I needed a place where I could get my head together without distraction. What better place than a barn in rural Vermont!
I’m glad you liked the pictures I put up on my facebook page. They’d been sitting in my phone forever. Not sure why I never thought to put them up. I guess I’m just so new to this social media thing — it never even crossed my mind.
Thanks for commenting Carmen!
Cheers!
Hey Trevor, this is an amazing list of experiences that most people from urbanized cities will ever be able to hear about; thanks for sharing this!
To be honest, I’d love to live with nature too, where it’s technology free and full of nature’s gifts – those beautiful sunsets, animals, plants…
Thanks for the feedback Harrison. You’re right, life in the country is a far cry from life in the city. Quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. It can be a little too slow for some, but it fits me perfectly.
It’s always good to live for a time in completely different environments. You’ll never know what’s best for you until you do. I’ve gone from heavy urban apartment dwelling all the way to my current little barnhouse in the country, and everything in between (well, not everything, but you get the idea). As such, I can state with certainty that this is the life for me.
Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers!
This is really awesome. The things I think I would enjoy most are…
Nature sounds – rooster, birds, insects
Fresh air
Tranquility
Simplicity
Having the great outdoors right out the front door
When I was in San Francisco recently, some people said they stayed a night in a treehouse. It was a bed and breakfast. That would be a fun experience.
No way! A tree house B&B? Where the hell do I sign up? That sounds like so much fun!
And all those things you listed are what I love about this place too. It’s just way better than I had even imagined (and I imagined it to be pretty freakin’ incredible). I think I’ll put up another post sometime soon with more pictures of the barn and surrounding area. It really is beautiful here. Worth sharing.
Cheers!
Trevor – sounds like your barn house in paradise is the place you were always meant to be. I especially like the part where you say “I’ve learned that an open uncluttered space leads to an open uncluttered mind.” So much truth in that statement…
While no place is perfect, this place is pretty damn fantastic. I absolutely love it here. And the rural countryside is beautiful. And it’s amazing how big a difference getting rid of the clutter can make in how much clearer you can think. It’s no coincidence that I never really started to figure shit out until I came here.
Cheers!