Judith Browning

Gina, I know what you mean....sad but still useful as examples of simple living and construction.

I love the adobe Nathaniel posted...almost an art piece and will leave no trace at the end of it's life.

and Burra's detail of a door latch and buildings, so much beautiful stone.

I think as John mentions they tell a story even as they decompose and unlike so many modern buildings not much is left in the end...although the tin on most of those I posted will out last a lot of materials.

Here's a cabin in the National Park here that is preserved with minimum repair....it is such a lovely design and the fence is a favorite of mine.

Your grape vine is such a lucky find...and living in a home with such a long history!

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Don't ever become a pessimist …
a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist,
but an optimist has more fun,
and neither can stop the march of events.

Robert A. Heinlein

Burra, what a lovely set of photos!
a building with history and a bit of mystery and character...mends and bulges and all.


Christopher, I love those! both the buildings and the graffiti!
I'll see if I can edit the title to include more structures in general.


My main interest was that they be old enough that more natural materials were used and to see how they weathered and aged and were treated over decades....wood, stone, adobe, metal, concrete (others?) bamboo?

Plus, I really enjoy seeing 'mends' whether it's structures or cloth.

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.
There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be.
We are not wise, and not very often kind.
And much can never be redeemed.
Still life has some possibility left.
Perhaps this is its way of fighting back,
that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world.
It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins.
Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty.
Joy is not made to be a crumb. (Don't Hesitate).

Mary Oliver
Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

Those are great examples Rick!
I especially love the church.

and I know what you mean about living in falling down houses though😊
I've 'camped' in a few years ago.

A lot of the small cabins here had no insulation and the lumber was usually sawn at a local or home owned mill...I like seeing the repairs made over the decades to keep them standing.

It's interesting that the plants that survive the longest are almost always jonquils, vinca, creeping charlie, wisteria...rarely any food crops but occasionally garlic...not the wild ones but cloves that I've later replanted and eventually reach nice size.

We see Iris and daylilies sometimes in more open spots where the forest has not encroached as much.

...a home in the spring

a school house along Calf Creek...

We are participants
in a vast communion of being,
and if we open ourselves to its guidance,
we can learn anew how to live
in this great and gracious community of truth.

Parker J. Palmer
(1939-Pres., Senior associate
of the American Association
of Higher Education,
senior advisor to the Fetzer Institute,
founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal)