This Old House

This old house once knew my children
This old house once knew my wife
This old house was home and comfort
As we fought the storms of life
This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now she trembles in the darkness
When the lightnin' walks about

Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
Ain't gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain’t got time to fix the floor
Ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window-pane
Ain't gonna need this house no longer
I'm gettin' ready to meet the saints

Soundtrack song: Johnny Cash and the Statler Brothers, This Old House.

Photographer's note: This old house stands at the corner of route 550 and Dungarvin Road, between Stormstown and Warriors Mark. It's seen some living, for sure. It is tucked into some evergreens, amid rolling farm fields covered in snow, as far as the eye can see, with a pretty little creek trickling nearby.

About the song: This Ole House was written by Stuart Hamblin. Here is the strange tale of how it came to be, via Wikipedia:  Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne came across a hut in the mountains. Inside was the body of a man, and the man's dog was still there, guarding the building. This inspired Hamblen to write "This Ole House." The lyric picks up a standard Gospel theme of the "old house" – the mortal body – being left behind when the soul of the believer goes to "meet the saints."