Strangely New Curtains

So I was driving home from Wilson, NC a couple weeks ago and I passed an old motel on a back road that had no business having a motel on it.  I almost locked up my tires slamming on my breaks because who wouldn't want to take pictures of an abandoned old motel?  Exactly.



I immediately felt an eerie feeling when I pulled into the parking lot that had been overtaken by grass and weeds. There were no other cars driving by on the road and as I got out of my truck the wind began to blow harder through the woods behind the motel. As if I wasn't supposed to be there..



I took a couple steps towards one of the room doors and then stopped and looked around again. Over to the left there was an old house that was probably where the people that owned this place used to live but now it too was taken over by time and nature. I had to tell myself out loud to keep walking because my feet didn't seem to want to move. As I approached one of the rooms I could see that it wasn't empty..

 

 

There was piles of old stuff laying all over the place. I know one thing, seeing teddy bears and other kids toys in this room didn't help get rid of the eerie feeling.

 

I kept walking to the next room..

 

The door was open so I stepped inside.

There was something incredibly creepy about that bathroom door being open.

 I didn't go any farther in.

 

I moved on to the next room which had a blue cooler in it. Although I was curious there was no way I was going to open that cooler.

 

 

When I got to the next room there were curtains in the window. None of the other rooms had curtains like this. These curtains were red. These curtains didn't look very old. These curtains didn't look like they belonged in an old abandoned motel in the middle of nowhere...

 

 

So I walked to the door... and that's when it happened.

 I didn't get a picture of it because it scared the shit out of me..

 

As I approached the door I reached out to push it open. The second I began to push the door there was a very loud rustling noise followed by what sounded like several things hitting the walls of the room.  What did I do you ask? I turned around and ran for my damn life!! I wasn't thinking about taking a picture, I wasn't thinking about seeing what was making this loud and scary noise. I was thinking about the fact that I was about to be murdered by whatever was in that room. About half way back to my truck I realized what the sound I heard was. Apparently that was the sound of birds being startled, flying around the room frantically, and then out the back door. I stopped running and turned around towards the room.  My heart was beating out of my chest as I stood there. I briefly contemplated getting in my truck and driving away really fast and never mentioning this to anyone. But I needed to go back and look in that room for some reason. So I walked slowly back to the room and pushed the door open and went in.

 

 

 

So if you ever happen to find an old abandoned motel in the middle of nowhere and this old motel has a room that has strangely new red curtains.... be very careful when you enter this room because you'll get the scare of a lifetime........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







Was it a good weekend??

I had been checking the weather for weeks in preparation for our trip to the mountains. Three weeks ago it said it was going to be sunny and cold while we were there. That was disappointing because one of the main reasons I wanted to go there in the winter was because there was the possibility of snow. Two weeks ago it said it was going to be cloudy and cold. Good combination but still no mention of snow. One week ago it said there was a possibility of flurries. The excitement was building until I get there expecting to see my snow and what do I hear... THAT IT IS SNOWING AT MY HOUSE IN FAYETTEVILLE! But instead of freaking out and driving all the way back home to get my snow I showed some patience and eventually I was rewarded.

 

 

This was the view from the hot tub on the back porch 

                         

 

 

But before I could enjoy that relaxing scene I decided to throw caution to the wind and break the law. Well... I ignored a posted trespassing sign and snuck through a fence to get a couple pictures.

 

This was the fence..

 

 

And taking a picture of this old house in the snow was my motivation.

 

Ok I'll tell the truth... taking a picture of an old outhouse in the woods was my true motivation. Totally worth it!!!

 

 

      Well unfortunately the snow didn't last long but that was ok because Sunday brought some funny dog pictures and DANGEROUS WILD ANIMALS!!  Doesn't get much better than that.

 

Van got a little tired when running around the lake so he decided to take a break..

 

 

and then Bea decided to start doing yoga..

 

 

 

After all that craziness I decided to relax on the porch the rest of the day until I was attacked by wild animals.

 

First this bird started eyeballing me..

 

Then he made his move!!! I could have been killed..



 

Then this squirrel started acting up..

 

 

Luckily I survived when animals attack. I'm pretty sure the reason I was able to survive was the amazing views of the mountains, the hot tub on the porch, the snow I waited so long to see, six beagles, eating everything in the world, relaxing time with Sarah, and laughing with two great new friends. All in all I consider that a great weekend in the mountains.

 

 





Whirligigs in Wilson

        Last year a friend of mine told me that every November in Wilson, North Carolina there was a Whirligig Festival.  When I first heard this all I could imagine was those cheap wooden things that I had seen hanging on the porches of old ladies when I was growing up...

 

Well apparently there is a whooooooole lot more to it than that!

 

 

I did some research and found out that there is an artist named Vollis Simpson and he has been creating works of art out of his small workshop ever since he retired at the age of 65.  He's 94 years old now and has created some of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I got to take a few pictures of them today.

 

 

As the wind blows these huge metal creations creak, whir, spin, and gyrate.

 I couldn't help but stand there in awe of them.. 



 

 And as the sun was shining down on them, they shimmered and created

amazing shadows on the ground.

 

 

 

The whirligigs are scattered all through the Town of Wilson so I just randomly drove around town finding them in parks, schools, and random street corners. I'm positive I missed some but that just give me an excuse to keep going back over and over.

 

 

Once I left Wilson I decided to drive a few miles away to the tiny town of Lucama where Mr. Simpson creates his art. I took a few back roads and then my GPS told me to turn down a small dirt road. I followed it for about a mile until I saw a humongous metal structure hanging among the trees next to a pond. It was as big as a truck and I almost ran into a ditch pulling over to take pictures. It turns out that this is where his biggest creations are displayed. They are starting to rust and decay and aren't quite as well taken care of as the ones in town. But these were just as amazing because of the attention to detail and sheer size of them. As I was standing there looking at them a HUGE gust of wind blew through and they all came to life as if it was meant to be. It was definitely worth the trip down the old dirt road.
 

 

Here is a shot of Mr. Simpsons field.



 

I could have stood there watching them blow in the wind all day!

 

 



I have always looked at things with childlike wonder and seeing these whirligigs today made me feel like a kid on Christmas. Seeing what one man could make out of scrap metal and what other people might consider junk makes me very thankful to be living in his world.

My Four Days Off

I have been exiled to the night shift at work which basically means I am a zombie for four days every week. Some people can lead normal lives when they work all night but unfortunately I am not one of those people. I can only manage to do three things while working my thirteen hour shifts every night.

1. Work
2. Eat
3. Sleep

Now those of you that know me are well aware of the fact that I am a very.. umm... SOCIAL person. There are very few times that I am not completely immersed in Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. While working all night I miss the sunlight and interacting with people. So the fact that I am shut off from society, so to speak, is kind of rough on me. To remedy that, I have come up with an idea that I am pretty excited about. I have decided to put a little structure behind my picture taking and incorporate my photographs into a blog. I recently bought a new Camera (Canon EOS Rebel T3) and have been taking pictures of EVERYTHING that passes in front of me. One of my favorite things to do is just get in my truck with my camera and get lost on purpose just to see what I can find to take pictures of.  I will post a new entry in this blog once week. It will tell the story of where I went, what I saw, and how many times I get yelled at or chased away for trespassing on private property to get a picture. For example....

.....this is the very angry dog that chased me for going through a gate to a cement company. Apparently he didn't appreciate me being there. Once I was a safe distance away I stopped to take his picture.  It was worth the risk though because I REALLY wanted to get a picture of this tree. I mean....look at it! EXACTLY!

I don't really have any idea what I will be taking pictures of every week. I will just let my mind wander until I see something I think is interesting. It might be an awesome sunset, a cool tree, an abandoned old building, and it might even be a guy in a pick up truck that REALLY liked the Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland..

I have been told I have a different way of looking at things. I'm not sure if that's because I am left handed or possibly dropped on my head as a child. Regardless, I am always looking for a creative way of expressing my passion for nonsense. Welcome to my world...well.. four days a week of it.