LocalLit book review: an armchair journey into serenity

Have you ever wondered why so many barns are painted red?

The answer to that question and more is found in the picture book “Barns of Will County” by Kevin McNulty Sr.

Oh, and did you know a lesser amount of barns in Will County are white? And the reason for that is also in this book.

But don’t expect a fact-filled book. “Barns of Will County” isn’t a textbook. It’s an experience.

Here is its Amazon description: “The year 2020 will always be remembered for the COVID-19 virus. It changed the activities of the entire planet. In the United States, millions were kept from jobs, schools, stores, festivals, places of worship, and family gatherings. When it hit, many people worked from home or stayed home to avoid any possibility of catching the air-born disease.

“Kevin McNulty, Sr. began driving the roads of Will County, Illinois, taking pictures of farms and the rural landscape. Much of this southern region of Chicago, has given way to suburban sprawl. Land developers and the rise of corporate farming have changed Will County from its origins.

“While Its northern townships are filled in with suburban living and the western edge of Joliet still teams with industrial and logistics activity, the southern region, which begins a few miles south of Interstate 80, still looks like Will County once did. But there are signs.

“Aside the many fields of corn, wheat, and beans one observes signs put there by land developers, eager to sell acres of land. But family farms can be found. And the pride of the earth-bound inhabitants of rural Will County can be easily found. Take a one-year journey through rural Will County and discover the beauty that still exists just beyond Chicago’s suburban sprawl.”

McNulty took 5,000 exposures and published 235 for your enjoyment in “Barns of Will County.” The preview story said he arranged them by seasons. This is true but only after the reader “visits” a wide variety of red barns and then white barns.

But “Barns of Will County” is more than just one barn photograph after another. If that was the case, the reader might shut the book after the 25th barn photo.

No, McNulty captured each barn’s unique character in all its triumphant glory, even if that glory is fading or falling. He captured the splintering and leaning of structures where gravity had no power on them. He captured barns that showed they’d withstood their share of challenges.

You’ll see barns in the background of winter’s thaw, in the spring green promises of new life.

You’ll roam through full blooming fields in bright summer mornings or sleepy summer afternoons. You’ll meander along straight roads and up and down hilly roads that have no end in sight.

Quite unexpectedly, the book will jolt you back into reality with a sign on a tractor announcing the cancellation of the Will County Threshermen’s Association’s annual show. And you’ll remember how and why McNulty spent a year searching out barns.

You’ll soak in the colors and crispness of autumn against blue skies, against gray skies.

You’ll read how McNulty ventured out early in the morning on Feb. 15 after Mother Nature dumped a couple of feet of snow onto Will County.

“It turned into a long day,” McNulty wrote.

Then you’ll turn to the next image and be stunned that McNulty dared to risk it.

You’ll see winter in its sunrises and sunsets. You’ll see gray barns against gray skies and blue-tinged snow.

You’ll see sunny winter days where the blue skies are reflected in the snow, photos so vivid you can almost breathe in the cold.

One photo has no barn, just a cheery snowman stretching out its spindly arms near a snow-packed country road.

You’ll see a hint of barns among the trees.

You’ll see a bit of thaw, the promises of spring.

You’ll see a frame of a barn in the snow where remnants of stalks still linger. Amazing.

McNulty then finishes up his book with the final images he took. And as you turn these last pages, you may feel a certain nostalgic wistfulness that the experience is coming to a close.

Fortunately, the reader need only flip back to the beginning to enjoy the tour once more.

Buy “Barns of Will County” on Amazon.

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Contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.

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