Down the Spiral Staircase

I often walk the grounds of The Abandoned with my sister Clytie.  We grew up across the street from these amazing buildings and have both been appalled at the neglect and vandalism taking place in the absence of the owner.  I have actually called news media and others to try to get some kind of attention for what is happening here.  No one seems to care. 

It is a wonderful place for some startling photography.  This is the spiral staircase leading up to what used to be the offices of The Abandoned.  I set the camera on the banister and clicked this picture.  Something about it catches the eye.

WARNING:  If you visit The Abandoned, be sure to get permission from the owner, or caretaker before you come, otherwise you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

He Lost His Heart - Guest Heart Thursday

At the end of the skywalk, on the sidewalk where the great outdoor fireplace stands I found this, er, silhouette of a man--who's obviously lost his heart--which seems to be sitting at his feet.  Gruesome--but sometimes that is what one will find in The Abandoned.

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must seek permission from the owners.

Resolute

A charming memory of what once was stands resolute above an abysmal gray wall of vandalism.

Shadows dance beneath arched walls, still beautiful beneath their scars.

The end of the sky bridge is abrupt and seemingly cold.  Yet one can see small spots of beauty.


WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must seek permission from the owners.

Fat Shroom - Guest Heart Thursday

 This time of year one can find all kinds of various fungi in and around The Abandoned.  This Fat Shroom caught my fancy right away--it made me laugh.  I'm sure this shroom must be saying, I'm such a "fungi."  (grin)

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must seek permission from the owners.

Heart in Knot - Guest Heart Thursday

Isn't this Heart in Knot great?  One never knows what will pop up near The Abandoned!

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must seek permission from the owners.

The Old Maple Tree

This is just a portion of the gigantic maple just on the edge of The Abandoned.  It must be hundreds of years old.  It is steeped with the ages.  Summer sunshine dapples the craggy bark of this amazing tree.  I wonder what stories it could tell?  What parts of history it once knew.  I wonder.


WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must seek permission from the owners.

Through a Glass Darkly - Weekend Reflections

There is an almost cathedral-like feel to this skylight glimpsed in a reflection from a shard of broken mirror found on the floor of The Abandoned.

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.


WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Glowing Heart - Guest Heart Thursday

The light shining through the broken window in the ceiling of the main building of The Abandoned makes a perfect glowing heart here.

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Sky Bridge

This is on the Sky Bridge which stretches between the main building and a smaller one.  I took this picture at the far end, looking back toward the main big building at what used to be huge glass double doors.  As you can see, nature is having her way with this place, if someone does not intervene, it will soon be totally overrun with ivy and blackberry brambles.

At the far end and to the left of the Sky Bridge is a HUGE fireplace.  It was once a beautiful work of art, but vandals have taken the bricks, using them to break windows in The Abandoned.

It is a wonderful, fascinating, mesmerizing place, beautiful despite the destruction wrought by vandals and neglect.


WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Reflections in The Abandoned - Weekend Reflections

Last week I had the privilege of introducing my Sister Clytie, to Linda--her biggest fan!  We had a marvelous time together.  Sissy and Linda hit it off wonderfully.  It was such fun to see The Abandoned through Linda's eyes.  She said it was all she thought it would be and more.  We spent hours looking through the old place.

She was mesmerized by the broken windows found at the top most office areas of the building.  As you can see from the photo above--the struts of the ceiling are very close!  This window looks like some amazing artist's painting.

 

Here you can see some of the broken glass in the window pictured above.  What is wonderful about this photo is, I actually caught Sissy's profile in the glass, from where she stood behind me!

This is me--taking a "reflective" photo in the broken window of a building near the infamous Cabin 5, where some people speculate a murder took place.  Such are some of the more gruesome stories behind this amazing place we call The Abandoned.

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.


WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Forest Faces - Weekend Reflections

Walking through the forest surrounding The Abandoned is always a magical experience.  If you look closely at this photo--you can find at least three faces, maybe more.  Can you see them?

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.



WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Milk Glass Hearts - Guest Heart Thursday

In The Abandoned, vandals have broken out nearly every skylight.  The glass lies in gathered brokenness upon the floor.  The patterns in this piece caught my eye--I was fascinated with them.  Can you find all the hearts?!

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Strawberry Tree in The Abandoned

In The Abandoned, whose empty windows look out on wild meadow and encroaching forests, one can find magical things.

A tiny forest of lichen adorning a fallen log.

An a hidden pathway leading to some enchanted wandering.

Next to the strawberry tree, where the red fruit grows lush and sweet.



WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Shattered Reflection- Weekend Reflections

As Sissy and I walked over the glass littered floors of The Abandoned this Shattered skylight caught my eye.  At first I thought it was a stray bit of sunlight sparkling from the ruined skylight, scintillating up into my eyes.

But later as I viewed the photo on my computer screen--it appears there is a face at the shatter point in the glass.  A child's face?  Perhaps one of the shadow people written about in the scrawls on the walls of The Abandoned?  We may never know.

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.



WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Heart of the Abandoned - Guest Heart Thursday

Sissy and I went for a walk through The Abandoned.  What a wonderful thing to walk with my sister!  It had been a long time.  We climbed the stairs to the great fireplace.

Where curl of brick twines strangely, like some kind of artist's work...

Where one can find a magical heart imprint in pitted cement...

Or the bloom of moss heart on stone railing...

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Shards - Weekend Reflections

One never knows what one may see, or find--or what dangers one might step into when roaming The Abandoned.  I thought this photo was striking.  Here vandals have broken out windows, leaving behind sharp shards, delicately suspended.  A dangerous obstacle to those who slip through these buildings in the dark of night.  An accident waiting to happen.

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.


WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Pink Smoke Tree Heart - Guest Heart Thursday

One lovely sunny day last July, Clytie and I took a turn around The Abandoned.  We both gasped when we spotted this beautiful smoke tree in the stairwell--both of us, of course, grabbed our cameras!  I haven't gone on a walk with Sissy for the longest time.  I think it's time we took another walk together.  (grin)

For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Gooseberry Heart - Guest Heart Thursday

Last Spring on one of our long walks through the forest surrounding The Abandoned, Sissy and I came across these gorgeous pink blossoms.  I believe they are Gooseberry flowers.  The fruit is a delicious pale peach color when it is ripe and ready to eat.  As you can see, one of the petals is a perfect heart.

Perfect for Guest Heart Thursday!  For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Haunting in The Abandoned

There are many stories about this place. I've actually read quite a few online.  It is not uncommon to read of ghosts and eery hauntings involving these abandoned buildings--stories which make chills travel up and down one's spine. 

There's a gaunt white-haired woman who stands at the tops of stairs, or on the balcony.  When her presence is noted she simply vanishes into thin air.  Or another sighting of a ghostly woman dressed in black.  She has long unkempt hair and moans--stretching her arms as though to embrace interlopers. It is said she was a patient from a mental hospital who died of exposure in the surrounding woods. Or what about sightings of a bent old man who walks the empty hallways of The Abandoned in the midnight hours, lighting his way with a lantern, or flickering candle?

Are these stories true? Probably not.  But sometimes there is a feeling in The Abandoned which is frightening and I've heard some have been told to watch out for the Shadow People.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

White Heart in The Abandoned - Guest Heart Thursday

Walking the giant parking lot near The Abandoned, where thousands of people once parked their cars, one can find some interesting grasses and flowers.  This gorgeous white flowering is one.  I was enchanted when I realized it was in the shape of a heart!  Just perfect for Guest Heart Thursday!

For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Purple Heart - Guest Heart Thursday

Can you see the pretty curling purple heart on this door?  It is surprising there is even a door left standing in this place.  You can see where the windows next to it are busted out by the vandals.

For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Suspended

As we walk through The Abandoned one can be startled by the whiffle of owl wings, or the sight of a neglected curtain swinging in the breeze.  This curtain was suspended like this for years until one day vandals tore it from it's perch in the air.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owner. 

Heart in the Trees - Guest Heart Thursday

Across the street from The Abandoned is my parent's home.  In my Mother's garden I found this wondrous shining heart of rainbows.  Sometimes the magic of The Abandoned spills over to the places surrounding it!

For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Lichen This Heart

One can find all kinds of strange lichens and mosses growing in and around The Abandoned.  This is one example of some lichen Sissy and I found growing on a tree last Spring.  I think it is beautiful--and perfect for Guest Heart Thursday!

For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners.

Reflection Revealed in The Abandoned

Inside the dark hallways of The Abandoned, bright columns, through which Children once entered their classrooms, are now festooned with Graffiti.  A soft blue reflects onto the dark ceilings.  A curiously beautiful word, Reveal, creates a certain spiked harmony as it sprawls down the curved yellow paint.

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.




WARNING: Anyone wishing to visit The Abandoned, must have permission from the owners first. If you do not have permission, you may be arrested and prosecuted for trespassing.

Mossy Heart in The Abandoned - Guest Heart Thursday

Sissy and I enjoy our long walks through The Abandoned and the surrounding forests.  When walking around the edges of The Abandoned, it is as though Sleeping Beauty's castle might lie beyond those blackberry vined boundaries.

Indeed, it was startling to see this heart in moss--let alone an outline of one.  But to find such an unusual heart is a part of the magic of The Abandoned.  One never knows what one might find walking through those lonely deserted buildings and pathways.

For more wonderful heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

WARNING: If you intend to visit The Abandoned, be sure to get permission from the owners first. If you do not have permission, you may be arrested and prosecuted for trespassing.