This week’s question from Blog In Place is, where’s the best place you’ve ever been lost? So, continuing my story of getting lost between Louisivlle and Madison on Kentucky Derby weekend….We had exited the backed up interstate to find a road that headed north to 42, which would take us safely back to Madison, Indiana.
Unfortunately, the road we were on just seemed to head west, back to Louisville. So not getting us where we wanted to go, but oh, the view! We were on (I discovered after we turned around to find a north/south road) Covered Bridge Rd., and smack dab in the middle of horse country.
On our usual route (the one where we’re not lost) from Madison to Louisville, we do drive along 42 for a bit, but as we discovered on Saturday, we cut down to the interstate right before 42 gets interesting. Just past where we usually turn, the road takes you along a ridge where you can see horse farms spread out on either side of the road, many with the beautiful, painted wooden fences, and this time of year, colts and mares out in the pastures.
The part of Indiana closest to us is also farm country, but mostly soybeans, wheat and corn. It’s not all flat, but certainly flatter than where we were driving. Horse farms make good use of land that’s a bit too hilly for acres and acres of corn or soybeans, and it’s those hills that make it beautiful.
What’s also interesting (to me, at least) is that horse farms have really nice barns. I love old barns, and there are a lot of nice ones around here, but many of them look to be in pretty bad shape. And the new barns that a lot of folks build are, I’m sorry, just really ugly. They’re pole barns, and they’re built of corrugated metal. I’m open to the possibility that in 100 years, people will think pole barns are beautiful, but it’s just a hard sell right now. What a pole barn mostly says to me is that no one’s willing to invest in a structure that they hope will last for 100 years. And well, why should they? Who expects to be able to hold onto a farm for 100 years anymore?
But on our unexpected detour through horse country, I saw beautiful barns–beautiful new barns. Someone was building new barns that were lovely to look at and built to last. I’m guessing this might be because raising horses is a bit more, lucrative? I’m not sure, but it was comforting to see that there are some gorgeous barns that will still be standing in 100 years.
As we drove along, happy to have successfully figured out where the hell we were and how to get back to Madison, we listened to one of the local public radio stations playing Derby-themed music, including, Willie Nelson singing Whiskey River, one of my all-time favorites. The car smelled like fresh-ground coffee we’d bought at Whole Foods, and though it was cold, the sun peaked out in a blue sky full of fluffy clouds. It was beautiful, a whole world that was just down the road without us ever knowing.
And that, my friends, is the beauty of getting lost.
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