The kids in church found an abandoned property nearby which they claimed had as many as 6 crumbling buildings. Twice a week my son would beg me to come explore with them & finally, we set out for a mid-week, family adventure.
The clues began as soon as we crossed over the ravine & into the overgrown thicket. I stopped the boys to point out the towering hedgerow which had once lined the lane leading into the main house. If you have ever crept around an old property, you will understand the strange silence & reverence the air holds. It's wistful & a bit melancholy, but a truly magical quality if you pause to feel it. I was 10 again, as we traversed around the buildings, collected clues & put together pieces. It was a journey across time & to unknown lives.
Our investigation began with the most recent of the buildings...one in which my son asserted had stood mostly intact only days before. Wooden roof beams some lined with masonry nails blocked my path from the living room. More clues.... I could see evidence of a porch which had long ago been closed off into a room. Looking across the weathered wainscoating & knotty pine panelling of the living room, I could almost see the matriarch rushing to peer through the venetian blinds which still hang vertically though the wall is asunder. The only signs of her kitchen are tatters of red, stained-glass wallpaper strewn about the forest floor.
Under this cascade of roofing materials there is a cedar lined closet with electrical fixtures & hangers still in place. We traveled backwards in time through no less than 8 buildings. Our next stop was what appears to have been the pickling cellar, the leafy forest floor barely masking layers of empty bottles & jars.... There were more discoveries that magical evening... additional buildings,rusty relics fallen walls with windows in tact, amazing stone foundations, plant treasures of long abandoned garden beds... Perhaps I will write of this again.
Ooooh.... fun adventure!
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