The Abandoned: Yellow Swamp Beauties

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Yellow Swamp Beauties - Weekend Flowers

These pictures were taken from a small hidden bridge along a path which leads to an unusual fruit tree. How I love the tasty fruit of that strawberry tree!

The once lively pond and stream is now a swamp clotted with beautiful yellow flowers. Frogs, spiders, insects and birds seem to adore living there.

Close up, the detail of these bright blooms is lovely.

This is a jumping spider. Sissy and I spotted him on this wrinkled leaf in the midst of the yellow lilies, as we crossed over one of the hidden bridges found in The Abandoned. It was a decided shock, to see this critter watching us, for sure!

I love the idea of Weekend Flowers! To see more lovely blooms from everywhere, visit Terra's blog Goodies for a Pleasant Life.

WARNING: Think twice about visiting The Abandoned without permission. You risk getting arrested for trespassing.

3 comments:

Tina´s PicStory said...: These flowers are so lovely! Thanks for sharing with *Weekendflowers*. :) LG Tina; July 9, 2011 at 1:23 PM
Clytie said...: Ah sissie - these are gorgeous ... and I love how you caught that jumping spider!; July 9, 2011 at 3:15 PM
SquirrelQueen said...: Beautiful lilies, they seem to thrive in swampy areas.; July 9, 2011 at 5:05 PM

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The Abandoned

Years ago, I dedicated this blog to The Abandoned, a huge complex of abandoned buildings in rural Oregon.

Surrounded by wetlands and old growth timber, The Callahan Center was built in the 1970's by the State of Oregon as a rehabilitation center for people recovering from injuries on the job.

In 1992, the property was bought by a mega church. However, the Living Enrichment Center closed in 2004, amidst financial scandal and the property was abandoned.

The buildings stood empty for many years. Over that span the property was vandalized and looted. Yet the beauty of its rare architecture shone through the shambles of abuse and disrepair.

In the summer of 2013, the complex was completely demolished. We were all sad to see the buildings go, but because of trespassers and vandals, it was necessary to take them down.

The area where The Abandoned once stood is filled with $500,000 mushroom houses (homes built so fast they pop up like mushrooms) built on postage stamp lots. There are sidewalks and tall lamps where I once watched the foxes of the field leaping above the grass, hunting rodents.

The surrounding woodlands still survive. It is my prayer the wetlands and forests with their pristine creeks, native trees and flowers, as well as the wildlife which shelter there, will be protected.