My Garden of Eden

My dream has finally come true. I have been thinking and planning to start a farm for years and the time has come, I bought a farm. I have so many ideas and goals for the farm, growing different kinds of fruits and vegetables, raising animals, and giving back to the earth. As I look out over the barren, pitiful land, I can see the potential. I can see my Garden of Eden.

Getting from where the farm is today to where I want it to be will take years and it begins by getting to know the land, and taking inventory of what is already here. The other big question is what to do about the dilapidated old barn.

I could tell at one time this barn stood gloriously, crucial to the success of the farm. Holding not only tools and equipment, but also housing the animals in the winter. This barn had been around for years and been through many growing seasons, and it showed. The building today is old and falling apart, the once red paint paint was faded and chipping away from the rotting wood it covered. Is it worth repairing and using the barn or should I just tear it down and build a new one? I need to explore inside before I make any decisions.

As I approach the old barn I start to smell rotting wood and old musty animals. The doors are huge and heavy, partly from the sheer size and partly from the stat of disrepair of the hinges.

As I push the doors open, letting the light in, I open the door to a whole new world. Just because humans haven’t used this barn in years doesn’t mean its unoccupied. They're faint signs of life everywhere, bugs, insects, even a family of bats. In the absence of people they have all managed to make this barn their home and all get along. I find this mini ecosystem fascinating and need to explore it more. The bats have claimed the top posts, hanging there sleeping until it's time to eat. If I do keep the barn I might have to remove those guys, humanly of course. There are spider webs in all corners as well as hundreds of other places around the barn. They are all there and able to survive thanks to the seemingly endless supply of flies and bugs who are also trying to make a living in the barn by eating all the rotting old supplies left over from the previous farmers.

I’m so curious how many animals actually live here, I might have to keep this barn and build a new one just so I don’t kill all the creatures living in here. This is exactly what I want this farm to be about, connecting with nature and allowing it to thrive.

I want to keep exploring yet I am cautious of my movements because I have no idea what is in here.

It seems like that might be it, to be honest I’m a little disappointed, with so much life up above I was hoping for something living down below too. Suddenly I saw something move, it seemed to go into that hole in the wall, I wonder where that leads? I’m just going to pull on the board and see what’s back there. As I pull on the board it creaks and then breaks into pieces and rats start dumping out of the wall.

Startled, and off balance, I fall to the ground and the big gross rats begin to crawl all over me, dozens of them screeching and running and climbing all over everything.

As I shoot up from the ground I kick off all the rats on my legs and get out of the barn as fast as possible, making sure to close the door behind me, keeping the rats contained inside.

My decision has become extremely easy. Im going to burn that vile old barn to the ground.

There is an old gas can that is not even half full, not enough to burn the whole barn down but its what I got. I can’t afford to let those rats escape and take over other parts of the farm. Running back to the barn with the gas can and some matches I have a brief moment of reflection. My mind goes back to all the little creatures living in there in peace.

My thoughts immediately return to the rats, the horrific screeching, the evil glow of their eyes, the feeling of their little claws crawling on my legs. Nope, never again, they need to die. I begin splashing the gas all over the outside of the barn, making sure to get some on all sides so those disgusting varmints have no escape. After dousing the barn with all the gas I light the matches, start a flame and then run as fast as I can. The fire begins to catch and soon the whole barn is on fire. As I stand there watching it burn I can hear the blood curdling screeches of dying rats. Im not ashamed to admit I like the sound, it insures those pests wont cause any more problems.

I think this is a good thing, although it would have been nice to keep the old barn and bring it back to life it is better to just start fresh. This was a good lesson too, I now know the importance of taking care of the farm. Out here in the country nature has us outnumbered, I’m in their world now.