Once a year or so my brother Mike and I will go to Orange and trod the streets of our old stomping grounds there next to what once was Jones Elementary. Suppose one can get carried away by too much nostalgia, but it's good to touch base with your roots once in a while.
But nothing stays the same, the only certainties in life being death, taxes and change, as they say. In the 1990's decay started to settle in. Our old house at 1512 Chapman began to crumble as it went through a succession of owners, until it was finally an abandoned heap. Even then I was amazed at how many of the things that my father added to the house were still in place. I would take pictures of this evidence and store them in the digital files.
Things reached a tipping point when Hurricane Rita hit, then Ike later on. When we were kids my brother Allan planted an elm tree in the back yard, which I had to be careful to avoid mowing the grass. Well, through the years this thing grew strong and tall, but during one of those storms (think it was Ike) it blew down and clipped the corner off of Dad's workroom in the back. The owner at the time didn't even bother to fix it. I considered just buying the place so it wouldn't fall down completely, but better judgment prevailed.
It had to happen one day, I suppose. Mike called to tell me that the old abode had been torn down completely. Not a trace of anything is left except the two live oak trees out in the front yard. I have an urge to go and see this, maybe one day after Orange recovers from more recent storms and hurricanes. Lord willing...
Another gumball bookmark was created from this trip to Trinity County with the Girl Scouts in 2008, which with the Fuji 7000 was a fairly productive shoot:
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