Thursday, December 27, 2012

Summer Hearts -Guest Heart Thursday


My sister Clytie and I love to walk here in Spring.  Both exotic and native flowers fill the encroaching forest.  This color just fills my eyes.  Do you see the petals?  They are hearts--summer hearts!  Ah, I do miss summertime.

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


WARNING: With the demolition of these buildings, The Abandoned is especially dangerous. If you visit here without receiving permission, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Graceful Heart -Guest Heart Thursday


Another graceful heart imprinted above the piled rubble.  Soon pictures of this place will be all that's left.


Those and our memories.  I wonder if the magic that was here will still linger?

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




WARNING: With the demolition of these buildings, The Abandoned is especially dangerous. You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Demolition Has Begun


As of a few weeks ago, the big machinery was moved in.  The walls of The Abandoned are being torn down and soon it will be leveled as though it had never been.  Memories will continue, but the buildings will be gone.  One of the owners told Sissy and I that there are plans to put in over 400 brand new homes in this area.

But the forests of our childhood will remain.  The old growth trees will continue to flourish, maiden hair fern will grow in the canyon next to the creek, wild animals will thrive and Sissy and I will still be able to walk the paths where we played as children.

WARNING:  Because of the current on-going demolition, The Abandoned is especially dangerous at this time.   Those who come here without permission risk arrest for trespassing..

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Skylight Glass Heart -Guest Heart Thursday


The last time Sissy and I walked through The Abandoned, I took this wonderful photo of the sun splashing through a piece of broken glass in the skylight.

If you look closely you can find hearts all over in the shattered glass.  I find it amazing, that in the wake of vandalism, there is still beauty to be seen.

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



WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Heavenly Clouds


This picture was taken from my parent's driveway looking back toward The Abandoned.

Daddy flew away to heaven Saturday evening--from Earth's sunset, into heaven's sunrise.

Thank you for your warm thoughts and prayers for my family at this time.




WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.



Saturday, November 17, 2012

Daddy is Going Home

Dad loved The Abandoned.  He watched over it for years, often taking his exercise there (with permission from the owners and caretaker, of course).  I can still see him with his cane, walking slowly along the road--with that funny little smile on his face as he did. 

Daddy doesn't have long in this world.  The last time I was at the hospital with Mom, we passed the time by going through Daddy pictures on my computer.


Dad was always full of fun and just a tad dramatic--as you can see by this hilarious photo taken many years ago during a family camping trip.


Here's another.  Dad worked many many years at Dammasch State Hospital as an aide two.  One of the interesting things I remember as a child, was when a patient would escape from the hospital they would often come to our house, asking to use the phone.  Sometimes they would be spotted walking along the road and a car would be sent out to pick them up. Dad was usually one of the aids who went out to find patients.  This happened quite a bit.  For Christmas one year, our brother Dow had a tee shirt made for Dad--it said Dammasch Escapee on the front.  Dad loved that t-shirt.


This is one of a set of unexpectedly poignant photos.  I didn't even know they were in my files until I clicked on them...Mom and I both gasped.  The pictures were taken last August.  I don't even remember taking them.


This is the one which caught our hearts the most.  Daddy's empty chair.  Daddy is not coming home.  He is at the VA hospital now, getting ready to slip into heaven.  Very soon he will be free of the brace around his neck and from the chair where he sat for so long.  He will be able to walk, run, jump and fly. He will see his Beloved Savior, his Mom, friends, his sisters and brothers again. 

Dad had to wear a brace day and night, because of a broken neck from an accident almost four years ago.  He hated wearing that brace.  I think it would make Daddy smile to know we kids are planning on taking that brace home and blowing it up, out behind Grammie's old house.  Silly, I know--but I do think he would grin over the thought of all of us gathering to blow up that brace.

Thank you for your prayers for our dear family.  God bless you all.

UPDATE:  Dad passed away this evening at 5:45 p.m.  Though we are happy he is free from pain and is in heaven, we will all miss him more than I can put into words.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Grimm In The Abandoned (Warehouse, that is...)



Almost everyone has heard of Grimm, a national series in its second season, shot in Oregon, airing on Friday nights.  It is an interesting tale, all about werewolves and other such supernatural beings who live undetected among us.  Nick, the Grimm can see through the disguises of these creatures and chases the bad guys down.  The Abandoned, of course, is the perfect foil for an episode set in an abandoned warehouse.

Sissy called to laugh over how much our family had enjoyed listening to howling in the woods, then shots fired, more howling in various places and more spats of gunfire.  It was a wonderful distraction, as we have all been so worried about Dad.  She said people all over the neighborhood were calling 911 to report the ruckus.  I was sorry I missed the action that night.

When I pulled into our parents' driveway last week, I was astonished to note two of the series' Stars standing under the oak tree at the end of our uncle's driveway.  That was rather exciting.  I pretended I didn't see them.  Folks who are well-known don't like to be noticed.

After I returned from Portland that day, I stayed around a little while.  As soon as it was dark, howling in the woods commenced.  What fun!  Then spats of what sounded like machine guns firing.

The picture above was taken from the driveway and is of a boom hanging over the scene they were shooting.  There is a man in the boom, operating lights and perhaps cameras.


Here is a closeup.  If you look at the enlarged photo you can almost see the boom operator.


Above is one of the trailers they brought in for the comfort of the stars.



The lighting shining through the trees along the road was awesome.  What an adventure to be so close to an actual film shoot.

A few days later, they packed up nearly everything and left. 


Episode 214, Natural Born Wesen, including green toxic sludge, will be airing in January, or February. 

From the script, this seems to be a fascinating story complete with supernatural bad guys and powerful good guys--along with some spectacularly noisy special effects.


Of course, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to discover there are real monsters inhabiting the mysterious region of The Abandoned.

We also heard some wonderful news yesterday.  Word was the owners of The Abandoned would be tearing down this wonderful place starting November 1st.  We were excited to discover they will not be pulling the buildings down just yet. 

WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.







Thursday, October 25, 2012

Twirly Heart on Wood -Guest Heart Thursday


This is a heart I captured last time Sissy and I went for a walk in The Abandoned.  I shudder to think that beautiful place will soon be a pile of rubble.  But there will always be the woods and the walkways filled with beauty and old growth trees.  I am grateful for that.

This week has been difficult.  I had some devastating news.  My beloved husband has cancer.  Early next week we find out what our options are.  But in the meantime, we are trusting God and His goodness.

Many blessings to each of you.

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


WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

For Leontien




This morning's Guest Heart Thursday is especially poignant--dedicated to a young woman whose dreams are on hold.  She has been sharing her fight against cancer on her blog, "Four Leaf Clover".  As Sissy writes, when you visit Leontien's blog bring a tissue and a prayer.  I was so very touched by her words and story.  What a beautiful, brave woman she is.

This one is for you, dear Leontien--I am praying for you and for your family right now, this moment.

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


WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Soil Sample Heart -Guest Heart Thursday

 

This is a soil sampling which, to me, looks to be in the shape of a heart.  Sissy Clytie, however, said it looked like mud cake.  (grin)  Chocolate, perhaps?


We've heard the reason they're taking soil samples, is because within the next month, they will be leveling this complex to make room for around 400 homes. 


Soon all that will be left of The Abandoned will be a pile of rubble.  I will miss the magic of this place.  The surrounding woodlands will still be there and I will continue to post many of the photos I've taken of this place, over the years.

Besides the high cost of running a building such as this even when it was functional, the terrible damage which tweekers, vandals and the destructive kids from nearby neighborhoods have inflicted on the complex makes it nearly impossible to salvageThe Abandoned has now become an attractive nuisance.  I don't blame the owners for wanting to take it down.

It is a shame--the rare architecture of this wonderful building will be lost forever soon.

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


WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Hearts, Hearts, Everywhere - Guest Heart Thursday


Hearts are everywhere in The Abandoned.  They march down the stairways...


They hide behind doors and dance over old plumbing...


They even decorate the trees growing along the edge of the building.  Both nature and Graffiti Artists have bedecked The Abandoned in 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: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Mossy Stump Heart -Guest Heart Thursday


The last time we walked in The Abandon, Sissy and I found lots and lots of hearts--this one in the top of a moss-covered stump, was the prettiest, I thought. I am sure faeries must live nearby.


I loved the angle of heart curling up onto the wall.  It is an eye bender!


Somehow the vandals have found their way back up onto the rooftop.  But I didn't mind this cheerful blue heart.  I am enamored with many of the incredible graffiti art pieces found in and on these buildings.

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



WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Lamps in Yonder Skylight

 

This view is from the corner window in the office area upstairs.  I love these lights.  There is something so whimsical and symmetrical about them.


Here the sun sparkles through a piece of broken glass in the skylights above.  Beauty from brokenness.


An odd angle caught from an upstairs window.  I liked the way the angles looked in this photograph.


Down in the pillared depths below.  The shadow people once walked here.

It has been many weeks since I've walked through The Abandoned.  This summer has been a heavy one.  I hope to be online a bit more now that there's a light at the end of the tunnel...sort of like this picture here.


WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing. 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Queen Anne's Heart -Guest Heart Thursday




Here is another heart of Queen Anne's Lace.  I adore this flower--there are fields of them in and about The Abandoned.  It is beautiful to behold.  I felt blessed to have found this heart. 

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


WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.  This is not an idle warning--see the article below.  Please be careful out there.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Splashed With Hearts -Guest Heart Thursday


Ned and his friends splashed hearts across The Abandoned--At first I was at loss to know how they accomplished drawing hearts clear up to this three-story ceiling in the pool area--then I saw the pipes!  Brave souls, I must say.


Sissy and I found these hearts on the side wall at the base of one of the stairways.


Just below the cause way, past the main auditorium, I caught this sparkle highlighting another heart.


Nature joined in, just as we were leaving--with this cool sunny heart in the corner.

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


WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

In the Woodlands


The old maples found in canyons surrounding The Abandoned are spectacular.  I often wonder about the things they may have seen over the hundreds of years they have been growing here.


There are enchanted stumps in these forests.  This one looks as like a doorway into an enchanted castle.


And here a window in what is obviously a fairy condo.



This lovely green thistle grew along the road just before the path to Deer Valley.  What a magical place.  I often think of the privilege we had as children--living here, playing here...what a beautiful place for imaginative children to live and play.

WARNING: You shouldn't visit The Abandoned without permission from the owner or caretaker. If you do, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.