 |
| What's left of the gym floor at Marengo County High School |
Today is a pretty day. As I sit here writing this I glance out the window and see the reminders. The dogwood trees are starting to bud. Daffodils are everywhere. The weeds in my yard are tall enough that I cannot ignore them much longer. Yep, Spring is upon us. After this brutal winter (below 50 degrees is brutal to me) it looks like dawn is starting to break after the long dark night. While I embrace the onset of spring as much as Cato (my cat) embraces catnip I know it's the time of the season. Soon my journey will once again find safe harbor and weather the onslaught of kudzu. I always get melancholy at this time. I'm tired of being cold but since I only shoot in winter cold is my friend. Friend is not a good word. Evil accomplice is more appropriate.
When I set out to do my project my goal was to cover the entire state this winter. To have enough material to actually fill my impending book. Ambition and reality seldom share the same space. December is always a tough month to get anything done. My job, although freelance, still consumed much of my time. And then there was my Dad's health issues and his eventual passing. Even though I knew it was inevitable it was still a blow to me. It's all part of life and life happens on its schedule and not mine.
When I set out to do my project my goal was to cover the entire state this winter. To have enough material to actually fill my impending book. Ambition and reality seldom share the same space. December is always a tough month to get anything done. My job, although freelance, still consumed much of my time. And then there was my Dad's health issues and his eventual passing. Even though I knew it was inevitable it was still a blow to me. It's all part of life and life happens on its schedule and not mine.
As I was passing through Orrville on my way to something else I saw this bank. It's still pretty intact inside from what I could tell. Old banks used a lot of marble and I'm betting that marble came from Sylacauga.
I have no idea what this place was called other than "Motel". I don't think it's been abandoned that long but as you can tell from the sign the kudzu and other weeds are permanent residents now. US 11 north of Eutaw.
I had passed this church south of Moundville on AL 69 back in November while going from Mobile to Tuscaloosa. I found it odd to find these plastic flowers still sitting on a post near the front of the sanctuary. Kind of a sad reminder of what it had been at one time. Now they seem more to mourn its passing.
A moment of self-indulgence. Normally I consider selfies to be nothing more than narcissistic reminders that we exist. Add to that that I don't consider myself as particularly photogenic. But I saw myself in the mirror and in my element and realized that this actually looks pretty cool. Soooooo...forgive my rare foray into self-aggrandizement.
Life is short and I have so much left to do. Alabama is a veritable goldmine of abandoned and forgotten structures. I want to see them all.
I wonder if that's even possible....
