Sunday, February 22, 2009

Caption This 109


Please caption this image
Please click here for instructions
Dry Ridge, KY, December 2008 [Click to enlarge]

Please note: This photo supports our latest Thematic Photographic theme, busted. Please click here to add your $0.02 to this never-ending photographic adventure.
We're midway through our drive to Florida. We've stopped in this town for lunch and, for the first time since leaving home, the van isn't shellacked with ice. We doff our coats and pack them away, where they'll remain, untouched and forgotten, for the next couple of weeks.

Before we finish topping off the tank and getting back on the road, I spot this abandoned house across the street. As I've done so often since I met her, I give my wife The Look, the one that practically begs her permission to take a tiny little detour so that I can remember a moment along the way. All I need is a couple of minutes to walk across the parking lot and shoot across the street. Nothing fancy. She nods approval, but I know the clock is ticking.

As I walk back to the car, I smile at the irony of time. As rushed as I was, time seemed to be something this house had ample amounts of.

Your turn: Please caption this image. You can be funny, poignant, or any other emotion you wish. You may enter as many times as you can handle, as I encourage that sort of thing. Click the Comment link below and dive right in. I'll announce the winner next Sunday, along with our next Caption This entry. For more background on the whole Caption This thing, click here.

About last week's photo of our son leaping into the surf: This is one of my favorite moments from our time away. It captures the unfettered joy of being in a special place, surrounded by special people whose only wish is to ensure he's happy and safe. It's the perfect place to be when you're eight, or any age for that matter. This week's honorable menschens captured the spirit of Noah with grace:
  • Morah Mommy: "What crab?!"
  • Pamela: "Break dancing."
  • Dana: "Wavelength exuberance.."
  • Robin: "Jump start."
  • PastorMac's Ann: "Catch me if you can!"
Stephen Parolini, aka SPWriter, takes it with not one, but two keepers, "Seas: The moment" and "Son on a beach." Steve writes and shoots with an achingly honest view of the world around him. He's also, quite possibly, one of the most generous-of-spirit people I've had the privilege of meeting since I started my blog. I've got a short list of online friends I'd like to meet someday soon and, like Dana (last week's winner), Robin and Judy, he's on it. You owe it to yourself to get to know him and his work.

28 comments:

Beverly said...

I am not good at captioning, but when I looked at this photo, it reminded me of a time about three years ago when I was driving north. I decided to go through Lacoochee (the home of Lacoochee kid) to see what I could find, and then I crossed 301 and went to Trilby where my father's parents' house was.

It is still standing, but it is boarded up. I took a photo of it; I'll have to look for it in my files. I was sad as I looked at it. I barely remember it since I was young when we moved away from Lacoochee. My granddaddy died about three years later, and my grandmother eventually came to live with us. I don't know who took possession of the house after that.

I guess this should be my own post, huh, since I've gone on and on.

Anonymous said...

I'm going with "Is anybody home?"

Anonymous said...

"Hey Cletus, lets go see whats in this here abandoned house."

Yeah, Jethro, maybe ther'll be some a that there moonshine in the basement"

"Or maybe some gold !"

Sadly, Jethro and Cletus were from Kentucky, where they did not have electricity to power the moving pictures or teleovision as they had heard it called.

"Hey Jethro, I'm a hearin' strange noises"
I'm a sceered Cletus. AAAAHHH! "
"Jethro. Whats Happ.... AAHHH ! "

If they had been able to have seen television or movies, Jethro and Cletus would have known that Zombies love abandoned old houses.
You know what else zombies love ?
Brains ! Zombies love brains !

Jethro and Cletus were never heard from again.

Goober Clampett
Kentucky Department of Tourism

Anonymous said...

Hello Carmi!

"Hey Cletus, is that there banjos I hear?"

Cletus and Lurleen's house may not have been much, but when the tornado headed for the trailer park, at least they were safe.

"Rustic"
"Fixer Upper"

Terri

Gary's third pottery blog said...

I get the feeling somebody dug those rocks up one by one and dragged them there and built the house by themself, a very long time ago, what a shame it is abandoned.
My caption:
"May 15, 2012, a new B and B and antiques shop was opened this week by George and Jeffrey, who have just moved out from the city"

Pamela said...

The cold shoulder


(your trip had been so very cold up until this point, and someone has certainly given this house a cold shoulder to sit on)

Anonymous said...

"Bright eyes, shuttered doors"

(I was struck by the shine from the upstairs windows vs. the boarded up doors.)

Anonymous said...

Gingerbread house on a diet.

Anonymous said...

"This just in: Ancient brothel slated for demolition"

:) hehe... I love these Caption This posts!

Didn't want you to be missed at the MEET n' GREET so I came by to say hi!

http://netchick.net

Anonymous said...

"Anticipation"

awareness said...

Hey Carmi...am wide awake this blizzardy night and glad to have bloggie diversions while the wind howls...!! I would like to be driving to Florida right about now and away from this endless February!

my offerings.....

modern day ruins

sign of the times

double derelict

doubly doomed for demoltion

i am falling and i can't get up.

unfit even for squatting

economic epidemic....the abandonment virus.

Anonymous said...

"Brilliance, before the crumble"

Though I hope it doesn't really crumble..


"Lonely Majestic"

Anonymous said...

Carmi,

Some weeks I (we?) just "know" who's gonna win; last week was one of those. Steve's captions were untouchable.

Thanks for the mention and additional kind words; next time you're heading north or south on 75, I'll track you down!

For this week's captions, here's a first early morning attempt:

Ramshackle
The Shady Rest
Money pit
Nightmare on Elm Street
Roof or consequences
Where the heart is?
Haunting

Vodka Mom said...

"Um, honey? You CANNOT be serious. "


Love the shot of the house- it's hauntingly lovely....

Tanna said...

"Evan to Tanna: 'NO'" lol

kenju said...

"Happy days aren't here again..."


That photo and places like it make me so sad. I imagine that some wonderful family lived there once and made it into a good home, and now it is a melancholy shell of its former self.

I have bookmarked the link, Carmi, thanks for that and thanks for following. I am honored.

Anonymous said...

Ummm, I'm back...a few more popped in my head, so I'm posting 'em before I forget :).

A bad case of the shingles
Home, less
Extreme Makeover, before
Two stories
Rocky. Horror. Picture. Show.
Rocks star
Stones hinge

Sara said...

the adams's family

Sara said...

a handymans special

Sara said...

looking for new homeowners

spwriter said...

Thanks, Carmi. Your own generosity of spirit is proven by your kind words.

I was going to take this week off, but Robin seems to have thrown down the gauntlet again. Therefore, the following caption ideas:

Memory keeper.

What abandon meant?

Ghost magnet.

House of ill, reputedly.

Surreal Estate.

Location, Location, Location.

Cracked house.

Shutter to think.

Home: sick.

Be it ever so humble.

Floppedhouse.

House holed.

"Gimme" shelter.

Reverse mortgage.

Daryl said...

Gone Haunting

Anne said...

This is before George and Mary Bailey moved in and had all those kids.

Anonymous said...

hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

Sandra said...

I long for the days when I was new and beautiful and proud and loved.

or

I still have great bones but my "skin" is sagging.

Jeane Myers said...

Hi Cami - I have had a wonderful time cruising your blog! this is a definite for my blogroll! thanks for your very kind comments on my blog.

Jinksy said...

Estate agent's spiel -

'Desirable residence, prime location - needs a little modernisation'

PastormacsAnn said...

What a great photo.

How about, "Only memories live here now."