The hayloft of Grandpa's Barn

 Grandpa's barn was one of my favorite places on his farm, and of places in the barn, the hayloft was my favorite place to be.  The barn was built into a side of a hill, so at the back of the barn, you could reach the hayloft from the bed of a pickup. Around to the front of the barn, the loft was probably 20-25 feet high. 

    I loved playing in the loft, and when I went to the farm with Grandpa, he usually made time for me to play a little in the barn. Sometimes after he was done with his work, he would come and open up the door in front and we would look out over the farm and towards the river valley. I loved those afternoons when we would be able to do that. A few times it was almost dusk and in the winter you could see some fog starting to form in the river valley. 

    But I have a favorite time in the loft, which has stuck with me though a lifetime.  Grandpa had to meet a man, really early at the farm one morning. I don't remember if Grandpa was letting him borrow some equipment or what was going on. We left town really early that day, before the sun rose. When we got to the barn Grandpa decided we would take some hay out to a group of cattle. So he pulled up to the back of the barn and loaded some hay in the back of the pickup, and waited for the guy. I was probably around four or five, and I was really tired. It was probably around 6 a.m., and seeing me yawn, Grandpa told me to lay down for a minute and take a little nap, so I did. I had such a good nap, and during the nap, I heard this beautiful. beautiful singing. It was all female voices, and it was so beautiful it made me almost cry.  

   By the time I woke up, it was 8:30 or 9:00 a.m., the guy Grandpa met had been there and gone. So over the breakfast Grandpa had packed I told him about the dream and hearing the beautiful singing. I wasn't sure it was a dream, because I remembered laying in the hay, while they sung. I asked Grandpa, if any women were there singing when I was asleep. He didn't know of any, no one had been there, other than the guy he had met, and other than opening a gate for the guy to get the equipment, Grandpa had been right there the whole time. He wondered if maybe the wind blew, and I heard that, but we decided the wind hadn't really blown all that much. Finally, Grandpa said, "You know, maybe it was angels. Sometimes, on really good days, I can almost hear angels sing."  The minute Grandpa said it, I knew it was true. I told Grandpa, that hayloft was and had always been my favorite place in the world. Grandpa smiled, and said, "No doubt about it then, it was probably angels." 

      After that day, I always have thought of the hayloft that way. My favorite place to be . . .the only place I ever heard angels singing to me.....