Abandoned buildings and unwritten futures

Empty in the dark
London, ON
October 2018
Photo originally shared on Instagram

It's 6:01 a.m., and I'm walking to the train station to catch my ride to the big city to the east. This stretch of Dundas Street is so quiet I can almost hear the puddles from the overnight rain slowly evaporating into the chilly morning air.

This boarded up building calls to me in my peripheral vision, as if it has a story it wants me to tell. I don't really have the time for it, but I can't resist, because I don't know when I'll be back this way. At this time of day. With this particular combination of weather and mood. And who knows, maybe it won't be here at all.

I quietly think to myself that things change quickly in this universe, and we miss stuff if we let moments like this slide. So I slip my phone out of my pocket and rack off a few frames.

I still don't know what this building's story is. Maybe this place and the beleaguered, once-vibrant street it calls home are on the verge of renewal. Or not. Indeed, no one can know what comes next, here or anywhere.

But as I continue on my way, I smile with the knowledge that I've at least begun the process of telling that story, and I didn't push the moment into some nebulous day in the future. Today was a good day to start.