Tarnished Exquisiteness

When traveling back in time, thru photography.  You never know what you will find. There is a lot to see if you will go out and search for it.  Number one you have to get out of that chair, off the couch and go search the back roads, the country lanes,  or anywhere your heart desires.   Make your day, what you want it to be.  An adventure.  Write your own story.
While we were exploring the back roads this weekend, we came upon, what once was a magnificent, manor house.  It stood like a silhouette against the ashen sky.  Its monstrous shape declining, as the wrinkles of time,  vastly showed upon her face.  I stood in amazement, wondering what it would have  been like, to live here when it was flourishing and full of people.  As I listened to the wind blowing through the dejected, broken windows, I could almost hear the laughter ring out over the hillside.  It was, as if I could  fathom what is was like, in its heyday.
I always like to take a moment, and try to picture, what these relics were like when they were fresh and full of life.  When there were no broken windows, the doors still hung on their hinges, the walls were solid and vandals, had not, left their marks throughout the home.  Not everyone enjoys the marvels, of what once was.  But for those of us who do.   These places are treasures.  Treasures to be hunted, found and photographed.  We do not damage, scar or steal.  We do this for the gratification and search for the perfect photograph. To have something to prove, that  it once was here.  It was beautiful and commanding, for it may be gone tomorrow.
After pondering a couple of minutes about the past, I wanted to go and check out the present.  I walked to the backside of the house.  There were saplings surrounding, what once was the back porch.  The wild briars were taking over, making their way across the pathway onto the porch.  To the left of me was a hand dug well, lined with stones.  One of the many signs, of days gone by.  As I walked onto the porch, I noticed the back room was pretty much gone.  The windows were nothing less than a hole in the wall.  A fireplace that had once kept this room warm, had fell upon the floor.  A partial chimney was all that remained. So sad to see a mighty house like this falling to ruin. Graffiti covered what was left of the walls.  A common staple in these abandoned glories.   I made my way to the main part of the house.  The windows in these rooms were also just gaping holes in the walls.  My heart was broken.  I was hoping for so much more.  The doors had been destroyed.  Instead of opening the door.  I just walked thru it.  I then made my way to the stairwell, that was in front of me.  The steps were so small and narrow.  But this is the standard, in many of these old homes.  I debated on whether to climb them or not, not knowing what danger could be lurking at the top.    There was not much holding this place together, anymore.  Of course, I had to see what was at the top of the stairs.  Curiosity seems to always get the best of me.  But I must say.  I am careful.  I don’t want to take unnecessary risk.  I made my way up the tight stairwell, until it opened into a vast room. The roof above me was open.  The tin was mostly gone and the rafters were rotted. I figure it is because of the elements.  Wind, snow and rain, enemies of vacant places. Sorry to say.  Not much to see here.  The room to the left was nothing but decayed wooden floors, opened to the immense skies.  There was, no way I was going to cross it.  I knew where I would end up.  In the basement. Not the way I wanted to end my day.  instead, I returned to the first floor.
Before leaving the house I noticed a doorway, that led into the basement.  I wondered “what is hiding under the stairs?”  At one time were there tunnels?  Was this where the hid during the war?  So many questions with no answers.  The stairs were gone, access denied!  I guess, I will just have to keep wondering, “what is down there?”
I couldn’t get to the front of the house from where I was, due to the rotted floors, so I decided to take a peek inside, from the front porch.  Fighting my way thru the briars, once again, I got to the foyer.  The Front part of the house was in worse shape than the rear.  The floor was gone.  The basement was in plain view, from where I stood.  The stairs were deteriorated.  Safe?  No way!  Even with a safety harness.  I would not attempt it.  I would be afraid the whole front of the house would cave in on top of me.
As I stood there taking pics and looking around.  I noticed a bricked up doorway, in front of me, toward the back of the room, that I was standing in.  Now, this was something I have not seen before.  I could see the original framework, that had surrounded the door many years ago.  I guess, maybe they had built onto this home at one time or another.  Who knows?  Another question I would love to have answered. I left here with more questions than answers.
This is a beautiful place and I am glad that I took time out of my busy schedule to pay her a visit.  I am likewise glad I was able to capture her beauty in pictures.  Maybe, she will never again be as majestic as she once was.  But in my mind, her exquisiteness is but tarnished.  With a little love and a lot of polish she could be restored to her grandeur.  Tammy Sullivan  (Lost in the attic pics)