A neighborhood landmark ---We call it This Old House, has been here for many years. ( I would guess since the 1920's) Its stood vacant of life for the 33 years that I have owned land in the area of this old house....its about a mile away from my home...as the crow flies less.
We have to drive past the house each trip we make to "town", not just us, but everyone--I was in the area of this old house just this week....I decided to pick up the cans that line the road thrown out by the "litterbugs" and I have always done can detail on the road that takes me home, less trash and sometimes I donate the cans to the Fire Department they use the funds for various programs, such as the Stop, Drop, and Roll programs in shcools...so on Sunday I parked my car in the yard of this old house while I collected the cans strewn around the front yard...and I looked at the old house that Ive seen a ZILLION times and thought "I should take a photo of this old house." But then that other little voice said, "why, you have lots of photos of this old house, do it some other time, you're busy right now," so I did'nt, I collected the cans and left.
Mt Zion Rd is one of the country roads that brings us to a main artery to town, Goodale Park Rd. This is one of the many large tracts of land that has a Vacant Land Owner...which becomes a problem for us rural dwellers...see if the land has no visible signs of life, people start using it as if it were their own...Like a hunt club that leased the land for hunting also used to hold meetings on the porch of this old house...although the house was marked KEEP OUT...And trash dumping was common, teen parking, and pranksters a'many were always around...
So one day I decided to trespass myself and explore the interior of this old house---I keep a small pocket camera in my car all the time -just in case-...usually the battery is dead - but sometimes it works.... the quality of the following photos is minimal-
So inside this old house its kinda spooky---the floor is not safe you have to stay on the edges where its more stable. Layers of lead paint peeling off the plaster walls show the various occupants tastes, going back in time!
(The photos of inside the house are currently lost I am looking for them.)
I do recall one homesteader 20 years back...an elderly black woman wearing a kerchief walking with a younger boy possibly a grandson, leading a milk cow...down the dirt road one day and I was very curious to see where they were going...they stopped at this old house for a couple of months...Im sure they had no place else to go so refuge was sought and given here.
Looking back towards the entrance door....the old curtains still hang..there is an amazing amount of light streaming in through the windows and doors of this old house...
The kitchen sink...its about to fall into the rotting floor---Remember this style of sink? Its porcelain over cast iron...in a free standing metal cabinet.
One of the fireplace mantels
the bedroom on the back side, the little Minolta didn't focus but I like the ghostly look of this photo...
the bathroom was most certainly added at a later time, this looks to be a 1950's bathtub
I call this shot the Door on the Right..
this is the back door this goes into the kitchen...
I know you are probably wondering why I didnt put this post up for Halloween...Im sure this old house gave someone a fright on Halloween, like I said teens like to go inside and have beer parties in the rooms that have a strong floor...such as the that back bedroom...here is another shot of the front of the old house..standing under the big tree...
And then yesterday I needed to go to the library...and this is what I found!
Someone burned this old house to the ground!
How quickly the big picture can change!! Here today --Gone tomorrow..so that brings me to this-so now I know what the First little Voice in my head was up to....and the Second little voice should have kept it's mouth shut!! I didn't listen to my first intuition...and now my chance is gone forever--
Enjoy what you have in front of YOU TODAY--many of us, myself included, get caught up in wanting tomorrow to hurry up and get here...meanwhile today is quickly becoming yesterday..
Many of the things in my life that I give thanks for are evolving, changing, and disappearing everyday--such as people I know or love, places I love to visit & enjoy, personal freedoms I take for granted, so I should enjoy what is right in front of me, just as it is RIGHT NOW, maybe we all should!
Happy Thanksgiving-
Now why did I know the end of the story when I first started reading?! We need to act on our still small voice more often. Yes and enjoy people and places while it is still today.
ReplyDeleteAs I read this Dixxe, I began to think, 'such a shame, that a beautiful old house should be left to go like that.'
ReplyDeleteAnd then, to see it burnt to the ground; so sad.
I bet that house could tell so many stories.
May I echo holidingmoments comments, so well put.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dixxe for your insightful comments on paying attention to our inner voices. Often life is about stopping to take another look.
Your musings could be a metaphor for so many of life's comings and goings. My life as a fireman in Detroit makes your experience especially poignant to me. My city is filled with literally thousands of scenes such as this. It is difficult for the mind to grasp how fragile our hold on the past is. At times I imagine us all as ghosts that can disappear in a puff of smoke, come and gone at the snap of a finger. Your wisdom gives me pause today, and I am grateful for it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame! That was a really cool house and I would have loved to take some pictures of it too!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you have that handful of wonderful pictures to share with us. What a great old farm house that must have been at one time. Is that cast iron fireplace front still intact in the ashes??
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you too.
They charge a fortune for those sinks 'nowadays' as my grandmother would say. That one of the window looks ghostly. I love to photograph places like that but have been to afraid to go inside--I'm so glad you went in before it burned down. We always travel the back roads as much as possible when we go to my mother's or to the upstate...I hate I-26! Perhaps we'll pass each other on a back road one day!
ReplyDeleteA sad story, to see the end of the old house. I'll bet it was a fine old house in its time. Glad you took pictures to show us.
ReplyDelete