Karen stood in the barn. The sunlight filtered in through small windows that had long since lost the glass panes that used to keep the weather at bay. She ran her hands along the creaky old boards that sided the big, faded red building. The crumbling wood was the only remaining insulation left. Still, the barn was majestic. It was comfortable regardless of the weather. The barn‟s gambrel roof and enormous hayloft were a special love of Karen‟s; those amenities were hard to find anymore in the modern metal structures that were speedily and cheaply erected in days all across the country. Shapeless steel structures now stood as the modern barn. There was nothing like an old wood barn. It had a special smell. It had a wonderful, warm, wood smell in the summer and a comforting, brisk smell in the winter. The old wood barn had a proud heritage that the steel just couldn‟t muster at its best. The old barns didn't have modern conveniences. They were often hard to care for, requiring maintenance and paint; all of the handyman things that many farms couldn‟t keep up with in the cost-effective, modern-day farm world. Many old barns were beginning to crumble, but hers wouldn‟t go down without a fight. It would stand proud and do its chores like the magnificent member of the farm that it was until its dying day. And do it with a style that the metal sheds would never be able to inspirit. Karen breathed deeply. The hay that lined the rafters had a delicious aroma. She climbed the old ladder that was missing a rung in the middle, carefully pulling herself up past the gap. She placed a foot on the rung above where the missing one should be, and grunted as she pulled.