The fishing shack

[vaneramos]

Brenna had seen the fishing shack on a previous visit to my parents' and wanted to explore further. Approaching across the adjoining field I saw an empty space beside the pond and exclaimed, "They tore it down!"

Three of its walls had collapsed and the roof sank, so the familiar sway-backed profile was gone, but the ruin remained. It was already abandoned and ramshackle in my earliest memories, the late 1960s. It was full of treasures then. What kind of treasures? Brenna wanted to know. Heaps of rope. I can't remember what else. Mattresses apparently: only their springs remain.

One summer somebody stored bales of hay inside. I was only six or seven. My neighbour Andy and some other teenagers had made tunnels and stairways leading to a clubhouse near the top window. Mom let Andy take me there. It's the only memory I have of playing with those older boys. Their pubescent masculinity titillated me, as did sharing their secret hideaway.

Sometimes we skated on the pond when the lake ice wasn't suitable. On the nearby beach lies the rusting hull of a fishing boat where we also played. It, too, has been abandoned for more than 35 years.

~~~~~~~~~~

Two more photos are posted in rural_ruin, six more behind the cut. The photo of the boat was taken March 15, the rest on March 26.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Funny, I thought it was a boring photo, but I remember how the boat used to look and included it for the associated story. It stood on top of the sand with some kind of platform in the middle and a wheel behind. The well at the back contained a ladder where we kids would climb in and out, but it's blocked now.

Anyway, the answer is yes. What would you like?

[susandennis]

And I must have the one above the boat for a puzzle! Great shots - all of them.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Now that's a badge of honour. Thank you, Susan! I'm glad you like that shot. To me it is the creepiest of all.

[susandennis]

It is creepy but it is also the perfect puzzle mix of light and dark and contrast and straight lines and squiggly lines. Some of your photographs are breathtakingly georgous and moving but, alas, would make puzzles that would be too complex to be fun. (So, I'll admit it... I steal the pictures anyway and use them for my computer desktop!)

Fishing hut photo

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with you that this is creepy - the roof look like teeth, the empty windows almost make a face, definitely not a place to be on a wild and windy night! ;-) Great shot! I like the boat too, it has a great line, shame for it to be dead on the shore.

Maggie (from the Everyday Matters Group)

[petard.livejournal.com]

So long as you are taking requests, may I please have the fifth one down (branches and roof) for my desktop image? Still haven't changed it from the blue flower pic you sent ages ago.

It's really cool reading about the girls' different adventuring habits, and the "ruins" of your childhood.

Z.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Do you mean the pond? I'll size it correctly and email it to you.

Hugs.

V

[petard.livejournal.com]

Actually, I might be counting-impaired; I meant the one one down from that. No complaints here though; this pic is also gorgeous. Thank you, Van!

Hugs right back. Door's still open whenever you want to come down.

Just so you know.

[detailbear.livejournal.com]

The blue flower pic is still my desktop, too. It replaced the blue butterfly.

Re: Just so you know.

[petard.livejournal.com]

Ha, awesome! Good taste. ;)

It's just the perfect desktop; nothing else I've found has topped it.

Re: Just so you know.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Awesome. I've been using it for mine, too!

[ubermunkey.livejournal.com]

hey while we are asking for favors...

great stuff

sometime tonight when you have a moment
take a deep breath
let it out slowly
and picture yourself in my arms
in a huge manly fraternal hug
of comfort and love

cheers Van

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm there right now my friend. This has been a good evening, and a hug from you on top of it all is a great comfort.

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

My thought about the seventh picture was that it looks as if the shack was returning to nature even before it was pulled down. The subtle curvature of the boards, the moss growing on them, the entire frame going out of plumb, took it away from the Cartesian world of order we build around us and back into something more primeval.

Thank you for posting these, honey. Thinking of you ....

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for dropping in, Pete. Although my emotions were spread too thin this weekend to allow much interaction online, it was encouraging to hear from you.

My primeval animal brain has been poking through the layers of order lately.

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

I have been missing you a bit. So as the news about Torvald became clear to me in reading yours and others' entries, I wanted to let you know I was thinking of you more than ever. Things have been so whacked out with work lately, or with being ill, that by the time I have "free" time I spend a great deal of it trying to rest or distract myself ... which means the quality time I have for catching up with you has been extremely limited. This is just a placeholder of love and care for you until I can reconnect more fully.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Good to know. I've missed you, too, Pete. Admittedly I've fallen behind on reading the past week, but expect to be able to catch up now that I'm home for a few days.

Do check out the photos of me, by Bill, posted in my journal yesterday.