Family Portraits

One day, or night, someone in each of these farmhouses sealed the windows, closed the curtains, looked around the empty rooms, stepped out the front door and locked it shut. They turned and walked away, leaving behind the laughter of ghosts and the memories of birthdays, funerals, Easters and Christmases. Whether they are out in the middle of a field or aside the highway or at the end of a dirt road or surrounded by woodlot, silent and alone, they are now and forever human constructions abandoned to the indifference of Nature. There is a deep sadness that comes over me when I approach these homes. One may think there are no people, no family in the portraits. But there are. They are looking out the window. They are playing in the yard. They are tending to the cornfields. If you look closely, you can see them just fine.