Forgotten

I've almost always had an interest in history. As a result, I'm captivated by old relics and historic sites. It's easy for me to see an old abandoned building--even a foundation--and wonder what life was like back when the building had its heyday.

Where there children skipping around the house 70 years ago? Did snow drift six feet deep by the back door between the house and the outhouse that one bad winter? When the last shingle was in place, did the husband come down and put his arm around his wife as they stood and admired the frontier home they'd just built on their own?

As a photographer, I've found that many old sites lend themselves to great pictures. There's beauty to be found in derelict buildings, whether they are along the roads we drive everyday or in the middle of nowhere.

One of my hobbies (thanks to my Dad's introducing me to Bodie) is ghosttowning. Out west, there are still remnants of old mining communities. A little research, a good map, GPS, and a high-clearance vehicle can take you from the 21st century back to the 1800s or early 1900s.

Some towns are still quite complete. Others are hardly visible in the desert scrub. Some towns are high in the mountains, where the days are cool and breathing is tough. Some are down in the desert where temperatures soar over 100 degrees and lizards rule the area. Some are nestled in the trees while others have no shade save the buildings that remain.

But in all of them, stories lurk of better days.

On a hot day in some ghost towns, a cold blast of air may rush out of an old mining shaft. Often there is no sound in the town, but the wind which causes tin roofs and old equipment to creak and moan.

The stories want to get out, it seems.

Posted by JRC at June 4, 2005 12:13 PM | TrackBack