Guardian -Guest Heart Thursday

First of all, I want anyone reading this blog to know I would never dream of walking here without an escort who has permission to be on the property.   Anyone visiting The Abandoned without permission should be aware there are surveillance cameras in place.  The property is regularly patrolled by local policemen, as well as watchful neighbors who won't hesitate to report illegal activity.  There is also a full-time caretaker living on the premises.  If you are caught trespassing, you will be arrested, jailed and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.  

Dad died just before Thanksgiving, so we haven't had much spare time--even for a walk in The Abandoned.  Since Dad left us, I have only visited here once.  After so many months away, I found myself in awe of the great changes taking place.  Though I am sad over the loss of these buildings,  I find that I can hardly wait to see this area restored to its once natural beauty.  However I am sure the idyllic meadows and old swamplands I remember from my childhood--a magical place where foxes came to leap and play--are likely a thing of the distant past.

As a girl, I remember feeling deep grief as dump trucks piled vast mountains of dirt and rock into the meadow, obliterating its former beauty.  Where deer, foxes, wild birds and other forest animals played, there was a huge, barren hill which was used as a parking lot.   My siblings and I were fascinated as we watched the building's walls grow tall as cement was poured into forms.  Years later, as a single woman I walked my dog along those pathways. As a young wife and Mother, living in my grandmother's basement apartment, Mom and I took our morning walks there.

In Dad's twilight years, with the gracious permission of the new owners, we walked with Dad so he could get exercise on smooth ground.  I still smile, remembering the tap tap of his old wooden cane and that funny little smile which played around his mouth as he walked through The Abandoned.

Over time, I've watched these rare, elegant buildings vandalized and gutted until only the option of demolition remained.

These photos are from the first and only time Sissy and I walked through The Abandoned since Dad died.  It is startling to see light where darkness once held sway.  The broken walls have let in the light to this area.  Soon these hearts will be crunched into rubble.  The rare architecture of this place will only be a memory.

Though the castle will soon be demolished, its guardian will still be there--watching from the mysterious woodlands--full of old growth trees, native plants and wild animals who live in the forests surrounding 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: With the demolition of these buildings, The Abandoned is especially dangerous. If you visit without permission, you risk getting arrested for trespassing.

Inside Out

When I visit my parents home, it is a treat to go walking with my sister, Clytie.  We often visit the woods of our childhood and sometimes, when weather allows--we walk through The Abandoned.  However, since Dad died just before Thanksgiving, I have not had the privilege of walking here.  This was from my first visit here in a long time.  A LOT of change has taken place over the past three months.

Here is a shot of what was once the inside of the building--now outside.  It is hard to get one's bearings, especially since the more familiar graffiti pieces were obscured by the staff of Grimm.  These are more of their fanciful designs.   It is mystifying to try to figure out where things once were and to get one's bearings within these broken buildings.

That high window once looked out over the inside of the building.  I believe it was the children's classrooms.

I liked this window with it's floating piece of stone.  There's something magical about this photo.  It is an interesting study of beauty and destruction.  There will always be a bit of magic permeating this landscape--even when the buildings are gone.


WARNING: With the demolition of these buildings, The Abandoned is especially dangerous.  Those who come here without permission risk arrest for trespassing.

Grimm Heart -Guest Heart Thursday

I enjoy walking with my sister.  Last week, for the first time in months, she and I walked through The Abandoned.  It was the first time I'd visited since Dad flew away to heaven just before Thanksgiving.  Somehow, it seems fitting, now that Dad is gone, that these buildings should be leveled to make way for something beautiful.  He would have liked that.

While Dad was in the hospital, the television series called Grimm filmed one of their episodes in The Abandoned.  They covered a lot of the local graffiti with their own sort of painted artwork.  This interesting heart is one of those.  It is surreal to see this heart outside, when not so long ago, it was inside.  Soon this heart will be gone, too.

Sissy and I often ponder how odd it will be when these buildings are completely gone.  I am so glad we took pictures of what will soon be a magical memory.

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 trespass, you risk getting arrested and jailed.

The Magic Lives On

Yesterday I visited The Abandoned for the first time in months.  Sissy and I were in awe of the demolition taking place.  Everywhere there is twisted wreckage and broken walls.  Though the main structure is still mostly intact, I was amazed to see how much land had been revealed.  The complex is HUGE.

One can still peak through a window from the outside to the inside--to see the work of graffiti artists.  I loved this contrast of winter grasses and swirled blue.

This is another example of fabulous graffiti art from the television show, Grimm.  How truly fun to see a smiling face perched behind piles of twisted metal and rubble.  An inside wall, now on the outside.  Amazing.  This funny face made me laugh.

The magic of The Abandoned still lives.  Even when it is gone, the ghosts of memories will persist. 


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.