I occasionally find the odd abandoned building in the countryside around where I live in Somerset. I have always wanted to visit an American Ghost Town and,during a quick visit to New Mexico in 2002, I had the chance to drive along the Turquoise Trail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It was great. There were a number of artists colonies en route which were fascinating to visit. I noticed a ghost town to one side of the trail, but the warning signs were very clear in warning that entry was dangerous. To be on the safe side, I used a long lens to capture this shot. A mediocre image, I know, but I had achieved my dream. I realised two more dreams the same day - I visited the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Sante Fe (she being one of my favourite artists and . . . when I drove back to Albuquerque . . . I had tumbleweed blow across the highway in front of me. Yeeha!
Hey - when you are over next you should try and get to 'Bodie' amazing ghost town!!
ReplyDeleteYour image reminds me of Highs Plains Drifter! Great story thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to visit a ghost town too, Laurie! I have a real facination with old, abandoned buildings, but sadly, now there are less and less of them, as they all seem to get knocked down and turned in to housing estates, shocking! Great stories and photo!
ReplyDeleteJoanna, Thanks for the tip - I'll look it up on google.
ReplyDeleteLeila, Thanks for visiting and the compliment!
Laurie
Liz, I went to a ruined building near me last year and had a scout round. I noticed that there was a piece of glass sticking out of the ground. Using my finely honed archaeological dig skills, I quickly removed some circa 1930s jam jars which were in perfect condition - and very useful for standing brushes and pencils in. There was also a large piece of blue patterned chine - bliss! The year before, I went to a field near me that was once next door to an old dairy that was originally run by the local cooperative. As it was winter, the foliage had died back and I found the remnants of an old rubbish heap - sitting on top were, again in perfect conditon, three old milk bottles. Before the Second World War, all milk bottles were very wide necked and again were perfect for storing paintbrushes in! Nettles in clump next to a property is a dead giveaway for prewar rubbush dumps - Keep your eyes open and good luck!
ReplyDeleteLaurie
Thank you for the blog comment! Your blog is so interesting!
ReplyDeleteFar from a mediocre image! Wonderful atmosphere...
ReplyDeleteNow I am literally drooling ! Ghost towns and ancient rubbish heaps with intact bottles... and here I have to go off to the offal office to spend the day solving peoples problems for them... when there are rubbish heaps to excavate. !!! Life is not fair ! My goodness, I think some bloggers are going to have to get together and organize some junkyard and rubbish heap expeditions, armed with cameras, shovels, metal detectors, and a cooler full of lemonade... Thanks Laurie for your inspirations!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting site! The peaks make me think of a Catholic church, but then the igloo-ish building on the right may have been where the cooking was done, and is that a cairn on the left wall? Did you get out to the D.H. Lawrence ranch in Taos (having sponsored so many Englishmen/women)? Now it's used for hideaway weddings for megastars like Julia Roberts, etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret. I'll take a closer look. Sadly, I didn't get to Taos. I intended to, but although it was freak weather conditions for winter (Sunny and Warm) - the local radio station warned of a blizzard about to hit the area so I fled back from Sante Fe to my apartment in Albuquerque. I did get a splendid video of Georgia O.Keefe from the Museum which more than made up for it - what a wonderful, single-minded elderly woman artist!
ReplyDeleteSincerely
Laurie