(Not Trespassing): Mr. Teacher's Trash Treasures & Dead Deer

Earlier today I got a call from a neighbor down the road, let's just call him Mr. Teacher. Mr. Teacher said during the night someone had shot a gun in front his house, turned out they had shot a young deer which was slowly dieing in view from his window. He called the police and the game warden, but no one ever showed up... so his third choice was me? :)
When I got there the deer was a bit bigger then i expected, very dead, and was getting too stiff. After checking out all the peculiar marks along the deer's side, we hefted it up into the back of my truck.
Before leaving and investigating the scene a little further, i wanted to walk around and see all the neat things Mr. Teacher had on his land... land handed down to him by his grandparents - which is land bound to hold stories and treasures.

In his mildy overgrown pasture there was an amazingly demolished old car.....

it seemed everything i touched would fall apart, metal cracking with rust, broken bits of what was once a tanker of a vehicle decaying in ruins...

Mr. Teacher also has a ginormous beautiful old barn. The kind with a rock foundations till in tact, one that was well cared for and used. Clean even. Many old things were in there still from days of old...

stacks of tobacco tieing strings and even the baskets they sold tobacco in at the market!

wood so stunning & antiqued that Mr. Teacher says people come and ask to buy the barn wood, and dismantle it. No way! is he not going to do that - he feels selling the land or doing things like that would dishonor his grandfather.

And the deer....

we came back around to the dead deer sitting in the back of my truck making me wish i could bring it back to life like the alien man does in Star Man! It was then i noticed more clues as to what happened in front his house -- broken pieces of headlights, fur scattered in the grass, and empty cans of alcohol where the person who hit the deer had opened their door. They must have shot it after they hit it, then drove away. But they didn't bother to shoot well enough to kill it and it still took hours to die. The deer was still able to walk 15 feet or more before collapsing.

Amazing, at how wasteful people are taught to be these day , they could have taken the deer for meat, for food, for leather.

Amazing that so many people drive with guns ready in their cars.

Amazing, they they attempted to put it out its misery and didn't bother to even shoot it in the head.

XOxoxooxX

(Not) Trespassing: Night Walk To The Abandoned Mansion

I never go out at night into the woods. Period. Except I did this time.
When I started out on my walk I had no real goal, the sun wasn't fully down and things seemed not too scary in the semi-dark. I had my crank lantern in my bag & a lara bar and felt like I could handle whatever excitement came my way. Till I heard that critter giggling at me from the dark behind some trees.... and remembered I had lost my knife, wasn't carrying a big stick and imagined myself having to kick off coyotes with my boots one by one like the BEAST in beauty and the beast's wolf scene (except I'd be saving my own ass.)
That dang laughing kept coming, making me think of hyenas (even though we have nothing of the sort in our forest), so I stepped up my pace and my thoughts drifted. It wasn't till I walked nearly a mile before I realized it wasn't giggling, it was a gobble of a turkey. In the dark, sounds aren't the same.
I saw through the trees the partly lit up abandoned mansion down the road... the one that is always closed up, empty, huge and intriguing. Only at night it's much more luring, more beautiful, less sterile then what the daylight reveals.

As I turned a corner and passed over a bridge I recalled hearing a story about the mansion and why it was always empty, yet somehow kept up - a story about a Wall St. rich man who went to jail.

I arrived at the gates, which seemed much bigger but less imposing at night - as someone who (never) trespasses all the time I am careful to read signs because I have (never) run into many electrified fence along route..... this one though just threatened to SMOOSH you to death if you dared to get in between it when it opens robotically. (see drawing)

I looked off to the left with my lantern light and found an unlocked smaller opening and walked right in....

Pushing my way through the pitch black, and turning my lantern off when a car passed along the road below- i first came upon not the mansion but the multi-car garage that seems like a mansion cause it is way bigger then my cabin! Snazzy.

Further along in the dark I got confused when the road unexpectedly split into two and I felt all turned around and dizzy over where i actually was and which way i was facing...

I approached a large log cabin only to realize it was not the mansion either, but a hidden house I had never known about. The wind was picking up, and there was lightning and thunder as I lifted my camera and the flash did a lightning storm of it's own.

(I did not realize there was a car parked out there till i saw the picture below, and lights were on in the cabin..... oops!)

I made a turn and kept trudging through the dark, using my light selectively. I moved along towards the big empty mansion as if it was a ghost frozen in time. Lightning would share a moment of clarification and then would be gone. The sound of the creek and waterfall in front the house was increasing into a deafening roar.

Wooden stairs led up to the deck. There is nothing more creepy-fied then a house no one ever lives at but the stairs are freshly swept free of most leaves and debris.

ALL the doors and windows of the ginormous cabin were covered, I mean like black out, shades pulled so tight no light could ever get in there from outside, how gross must it be inside there from no sun or ventilation... that kind of covered. I walked right past, towards the roaring water and the Sound Of Music Gazebo!

It felt really lonely in there... and ..... just wrong....

The street light they had installed was shining like some misplaced beacon of suburban light in the middle of nowhere - shining down on this unloved log mansion showing everyone it was empty, like some kind of flashing vacancy sign at a cheap motel. I don't think the city folk (who build these homes) have figured out that it's better if they(those who dont own your house) can't find ya (AKA, it gets so dark out here nobody wants to come near your house in the freakin' dark! It's too scary!)

The rumbles of thunder, gobbles of turkeys, tree limbs cracking in the wind, leaves littering the air and lightning showing bits of my surrounding were increasing into a climax and I decided to get the hec outta there....

I walked so fast through the dark holding my lantern I was sweating in the chilled wind and drizzle of rain - the sound of my own heavy breathing was beginning to even creep me out.

I made it back to my cozy little Luck Cabin just in time as a huge thunderstorm exploded from the blackness, I ran the last 40 feet to my front door being pelted by big hard raindrops wetting my already sweaty hair. A sigh of relief eveloped me to be at a place with heart, blankets, and my animals again. The signs of life.

XOxoxox

(Not) Trespassing: Backwards To The Round House

Sometimes the beginning is the end, or the end the beginning... how I came upon the round house was entirely backwards and by chance. I started at the unknown end of 115 acres, as my starting point ---> in the pic above I am standing at the end of my route, but the true beginning for the round house, a big stone entrance gate where the (not really) trespassing ceased because it carried me on to a state road.
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Where I started my trail was here, on some old logging roads that kept on winding past Bob Knob's Ole' Cabin....
The trail seemed long since I was seeing it for the first time, and the forest became darker as it went on, thicker, less touched by humans, more eerie to be walking alone. I saw some fresh coyote scat and heard noises from birds new to my ears - I picked up a large stick (in addition to carrying my trusty knife) and continued on.
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I came upon the littlest bit left of some structure totally deep in the mountain laurel, only a few strips of wood remaining, but enough to show someone had put it together at one time - it's purpose lost with most of the rest of the wood. Maybe it was a small pen for a pig?
As I walked further into the darkness, I finally could see a literal light at the end of the tunnel, a blotch of sun indicating a clearing. It is where all the deer tracks in the muddy road were leading to, and I was excited knowing there was going to be an open meadow up ahead!

THE OLD BARN::::::

As the scene opened itself up, I came upon one of the most beautifully hand crafted barns I have ever seen - a barn hidden to nearly all eyes because of it's far back location. But one that should be seen, as a historical and wood working Taj Mahal of the Appalachian Mountains!

The shingled long wood slat siding was breath-taking, I am most certain these were each hand made, taking a great amount of time and skill to put together.

I have yet to ever see old logs notched together, that didn't impress me....

Not far past the barn further down the road..... I came upon a HOUSE!

THE ROUND HOUSE:::::::::::

I had no idea I would come up on a "real" house, as in one not decaying and 100 years old. It seemed overgrown enough that maybe no one was there, but I was still VERY careful to walk up to the deck and call out "Helloooo" ---- anyone could have been inside. As I was standing waiting for a sign of life, 5 feet away from me a HUGE deer suddenly was startled, hauling it's lil' white tail away from me, scaring the shit out of me and itself.

I dared to look into the window, seeing that certainly in a house like this, no furniture meant No ONE is HOmE! I admired the light the house was getting, with all the windows and skylights.

I moved along down the road once again, past fields of wildflowers (yarrow, bee balm and Queen Ann's Lace) - spots I am sure the humans at one time kept well mowed and open for play or pleasure - nature was now claiming it's natural growth cycle.

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On my left I noticed through the trees, a Volleyball Court! Nature was taking it over too, pushing plants up through ever so slight cracks in the court's hard cement.

Just past the sports field was an adorable pond, with the perfect fishing peer towards the back end. The water was brown and I could not see to the bottom, or even on the sides - I knew there were frogs in it, but wondered about fish that I maybe could not see. The established nature of the wildflowers, blackberry vines and height of the grass indicated that this place was no longer a top priority for whoever had once loved it. And I am sure they did.

I eventually made way past two lean-to structures till I found a front stone wall, a gate - the announcement of the beginning which was my end.

XOxoxo

PS- the property turns out, is for sale. Round house with one acre, or up to an additional 114 acres.

(Not) Trespassing: Bob Knob's Ole' Cabin

A cabin, so hidden in the woods, so far forgotten, so worn with time and weather - abandoned by humans but not the animals... this was the old cabin I went searching for that Bob Knob Jr. had told me was now a part of his father's land. This was my second attempt to find it.

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My first attempt (the day before) I got lost, the road forked, had seperate trails leading off to the right and left, I had found myself only deep into a forest with no sign of human ruins.

(This time) With my sister's kid & my mom breathing hard as we trecked up the trails...all I knew to go on was to "follow the dirt road the branches off from the gravel road at the sharp turn, and follow it till you see the cabin". I also knew this cabin had "no bathroom" and was "very old" and contained some "old dishes" that had been mostly taken out already by Mr. Bob Knob.

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We found it...

More broken, historical, beautiful and in ruins then I could have expected - the cabin sat hidden among brush, trees and it's own camo causing decay. Leaning to one side, I could see the collapse was well under way for this structure, "saving" it would never be an option for Bob Knob. Only way to save it was to let it be.

A grand chimney, built with stones surely gathered from around the cabin was now falling apart - which didn't take away from it's majectic quality, the hard work, the sweat and muscle it took to build.

I am drawn to the fact that, nobody went to Lowes or Home Depot to put this cabin together - somebody worked their fuckin' ass off to create every bit of wood, carry every stone, put together each door by hand - houses were not just thrown together with the ease of contractors and codes. These homes were crafted with blood, sweat and tears - with pride and respect for nature, because they knew exactly where the resources were coming from.

As frightening as it may look to some modern folks, it was quite common to build cabins on piles of stones like this (pic below) - rocks were stacked in such a way as to make pillars of support for the entire structure and everything it would hold. These foundations can last longer then we think...

Me and Cam took a look inside the doorless doorway. Cam standing back cause I am pretty sure he was creeped out by the rickety spookiness... what time can do.

Upon stepping inside into the main living room, I found the front door - on the ground...

I knew we were at the right place when I saw various dishes laying around - just like Bob Knob Jr. had described.

From the inside, it appeared the chimney was about to explode with a crash - it seemed to be the reason the house was shifting off the foundation - pushing the walls in, busting the side of the house clean open....

For me, I can not help but wonder - who sat in front that fire place during the cold winters, what did they think about, what was their life like, what was their relationship with the forest around them? I almost wish there could be a written diary waiting in a cupboard, a letter, a clue.

THE BEDROOM:::::::

creepy x's a thousand! There was a skanky old mattress on the floor too, but that disturbs me so much I didn't take a picture.

THE KITCHEN::::::::::::

of great interest to me, I loved this kitchen, it was bigger seeming then the bedroom and better then the living room, I could feel that this is where the energy of the house was at...

A grand iron sink! The big kind with full counter top - which probably weighed a bA-ZillIon pounds, but is the gem of the home! I wonder if there was a well, spring water, or who updated this cabin then left it to it's own devices? Someone in the 60's or 70's had lived here, because they covered up the old true wood paneling, with the faux shit of the time...

Adorable cabinets FULL of mouse, rat, critter nests!

AAaaaND...... WTF......

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I did not see it when I was standing there in the dark,

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but....

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WHAT tha' WHAT is down there at the bottom of the cupboard (where i have put a pink arrow pointing)???! ARE THOSE GIANT RATS!???! (click that actual photo for a larger view!)

TIME TO LEAVE ::::::

My sister's kid was so thoroughly freaked out, he didn't want to hang around. It made him have to take a shit. Seriously. So we moved along when I had got enough pictures.

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On our way out I saw this other structure only about 50-100 feet away from the Ole' Cabin.... eventually Bob Knob's Ole' Cabin will meet the same fate.

(OH and guess what? Walking away I again saw Bob Knob Jr. - and he told me if I keep on following that same road WAY past that ole' cabin, I will discover ANOTHER CABIN!)

Xoxoxo

PS - ya'll may have noticed my spelling on this blog has gone downhill fast, and it's cause the spell check function is totally broke! Welcome to 'Reality In Leslie's Louisiana Education 101" !!