Ghost House

 

I noticed this house, for the first time, on my "purple" stroll around the village. It's nothing extraordinary, but in its modest way, it stands out with its mansard roof and intricate molding. 

"Ghost houses" (my phrase for them) like these can be found in any town. Sometimes they are vacant, as this one appears to be, and sometimes not -- perhaps occupied by people without the means to keep the houses in shape, or even by squatters. We used to have one just a few houses down from our own home when I lived in Connecticut, where my kids grew up. We would walk by it with a quick glance. We could never be sure if anyone lived in it. Sometimes there would be a car parked in the back, or we thought we could see a light on inside.

One time a drunken man came to our backyard and threw around some garbage cans. He caused a bit of a fright, but someone came to get him and bring him home -- and if my recollection serves me, I think we found out he came from that "ghost house" down the block.

Happy Summer Solstice (or Winter Solstice to those of you Down Under) and Father's Day for those who celebrate.

Comments

  1. Stefan JanssonJune 21, 2026 at 11:13 AM

    I photographed an abandobed property years ago. In a forest. An old farm house with a few smaller buildings. Thanks to friends in the historical association I got the story behind it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OPENING DAY FOR GRANVILLE (NEW YORK) DAILY PHOTO

Image
 March 3, 2026 Welcome to Granville, New York, Daily Photo!  Quoting from Wikipedia: Granville is a town on the eastern border of Washington County, New York, United States, abutting Rutland County, Vermont. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. The town of Granville contains a village that also bears the name Granville. Granville is properly part of "upstate New York" and is on the Route 22 corridor that stretches east of the Hudson River from the Bronx all the way to the Canadian border. Granville is a historic center of the slate industry, producing colorful slate for roofs, walkways, and other uses. There are still active mines and slate producing factories. Some beautiful homes in the village of Granville attest to the area's former wealth. The region as a whole is agricultural. A major employer in the village is Telescope, a fabricator of patio furniture. I've lived in the town for a little...
Read more

Amazon

Image
Depending on your perspective, it's a modern convenience or the Devil's handiwork, or maybe both. I read that when Amazon converted a former lumber yard building in Granville into a warehouse/distribution center in 2023, they promised 200 jobs, but it's unclear whether there are currently more than 100 employees there. (I am going to call them to ask.) That's still a decent number for our small town. I am not out of the habit of using Amazon; there are products which are easier to order, and usually less expensive, than driving at least 45 minutes to an hour to a retail center to buy. I read a lot of books on my iPhone Kindle app. But I fully acknowledge Amazon's reputation for terrible, dangerous working conditions, its animosity toward unions, and the damage to our country and the world that Bezos and his ilk do.  Here I go getting political again. And I need prettier pictures. Coming up soon, I promise! Happy one-week Daily Photo bloggiversary to me!!
Read more

Timberdoodling With Friends

Image
We went out last evening at sundown with our friends Kate and Tim to listen and look for American Woodcock, aka Timberdoodles, doing their mating performance (description below). They live next to a rail trail that bissects several miles of fields and wetlands. Kate and Tim strolling ahead of us. They are such a lovely couple. Tim is a bird and nature artist as well as a birder Our first sighting was of an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) flying by. As it got darker, a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) hooted from the woods. At about the point it was fully dusk ...  Swamp habitat along the rail trail. If you look closely, you can see Venus shining in the cloudless sky. ... the timeberdoodles started their displays. There must have been up to a dozen of them on the mile-long path we walked. They are difficult to see but unmistakeable to hear; at one point,  however, one burst into flight right in front of us and went right over our heads!  Finally, as it faded to nigh...
Read more