Saying goodbye

       Some of you may know that my dad suffered a stroke in 2009 and he is currently in an assisted living facility. He has aspirations to walk again and live on his own at some point which I encourage and support. Unfortunately right now that is not an option and therefore his property and house are somewhat abandoned. He decided to sell the place about a year ago because he is unable to maintain it at this point and now there is a buyer. The closing is coming up and so I had to make the trip down there to clean out the house and put my dad's stuff in storage.

       I figured I would feel some sort of emotion while I was there but I definitely didn't anticipate the level of sadness that I would feel. The memories that were evoked while working in each room and walking around the 3 acres on that rainy day were very intense and surprising. The new owners have plans to bulldoze the house and start from scratch with the land which made things even worse. Once the work was done I decided to walk around and take a few pictures..

My dad probably spent 90% of his life outside. A lot of it sitting

in his favorite spot on this porch next to his shed.

 

 

 

This is the tree that was struck by lightning while I was walking

 towards it during a storm in 1996. I have no idea why I was outside..

 

This is the best climbing tree in the history of the world. It's a magnolia tree

that has to be several hundred years old. I spent a lot of time up there as a kid.

 

 This is the swing that my dad and I built shortly after we moved in back in

1989. There was never a better tool hander than I was...ever.

 The swing is still standing strong after all this time.

 

 A porch swing out in front of the house. It is worn down by time.

Worn down by life too I suppose.

 

But there is hope for the future....

 

 

         Although I'll never again walk through that house, play in that tree, swing on that swing, sit with my dad in his favorite spot on that porch, I am comforted in the fact that there is a future for that place. Another family will live there. Another kid will climb in that tree and hopefully appreciate it the way I did. Life will occur in this place again, and it will be a happy life. 

 

 

One man's trash....

            So I set out today to find a location to practice my long exposure shots on some late night traffic but ended up meeting a real life hoarder and avid collector of junk. I was driving through Raeford, NC when I went past a line of trees that had an old jeep wedged in between them. My first thought was that I need to turn around and take a picture but then that thought was interrupted by a really old school bus turned over next to some more trees. JACKPOT!!!

So I quickly turned around and started driving back the other way past acre after acre of old cars, tractors, buses, and other machinery that I couldn't even identify. I was just about to park next to the road and trespass, as I have been known to do to get my pictures, when I saw an old building with a truck parked next to it. This was where I met him.

 

 

The front door was blocked by an old antique table so I tried to find another way in. I knocked on the old metal door on the side. The door opened a little as I was knocking and I could hear someone's voice so I pushed the door a little. As the door swung open I could see that the room was PACKED full of junk from top to bottom. As I was standing there just taking it all in I heard an old man say hello. I turned to see him and his dog making his way through the junk to where I was. I introduced myself and told him how cool his stuff looked from the road. He told me that he was 86 years old and he had been collecting stuff for 70 years and most of it was still here. I swear this guy needs to be on American Pickers immediately! Hopefully Hoarders won't come knocking on his door because it would be a shame for him to lose any of his stuff.  After talking to him for a few minutes I asked him if he would mind if I walked around and took some pictures of his place. He told me I could but that I was to watch out for the guy on the forklift because he might not be able to see me walking around out there. I told him I would be careful but honestly I never saw any signs of a guy, or a forklift. He could have been confused..

To get to the really good stuff I had to cross this "bridge". I don't think it was made for anyone heavier than a frail, 86 year old man but I gave it a try anyway.

 

Here is some of what I found on the other side.

 

 

 

 

I  have absolutely no idea what this piece of machinery is..

 

I found another building and thought I would give you an idea of what kind of stuff this guy has..

 

 

 

He told me that he loved school buses and never wanted to see them destroyed so he would buy them whenever he got the chance.



 

 

 

 

 

 

I could have walked around on this guy's property all day long but after taking about a hundred pictures, falling down in the mud twice, and almost impaling myself on razor sharp scrap metal I headed back to the rickety bridge to thank the junk man for his hospitality. As I entered the old building I found him standing at a work bench quietly tinkering with an old flashlight that he said was "acting up". He continued to work on that flashlight as we were talking as if it was the most important thing in the world. I get the feeling that he feels that way about all his stuff. That truly gives meaning to the old phrase "One man's trash is another man's treasure"