Saturday, December 5, 2009

The Window



A week or so after Hurricaneaster Ida, I drove down to Haven Beach to inspect the damage. To get there one must pass an old house which sits directly by the dirt lane leading to the beach, on the right. My kids like to call it the Monster House because at one point one of the upper windows was covered by a great big picture of a creature from Where the Wild Things Are. Very strange, yes, but around here we've become accustomed to strange. Often we expect it. Strange is really the norm.

Anywho, when I drove past the house I noticed that not only was that picture gone, but all the windows were blown out.

Although I'm not sure if the storm blew the windows out or if someone purposely broke them, the fact is for the first time I could see clearly inside the house.

I love the window pictured above for several reasons. First, it provides a tiny glimpse into the house's past life. This was probably a little girl's room which I say only because of the flowery wallpaper. Second, I love that you can see through to the window on the opposite side of the room. It, too, is blown out and shows a tree trying to take over the house. (The trees are very successfully taking over. I'll share shots from the back of the house another day.)

In a way these windows tell a story. The first provides a glimpse into the past. The second shows the future.

I could stare through this window for hours wondering what happened inside that room. And that house. If only walls could talk.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice shot. Hurricanoreaster Ida changed lots of places! I took my husband back home (we're near Blacksburg now) and went to show him Windmill Point since I grew up right down the road from it, but I couldn't get anywhere near it since it was underwater. Maybe next year...

Mrs F with 4 said...

Oh! Can't you go inside?

A good friend of mine owns an old farmhouse in Nova Scotia, which hasn't been lived in for more than 15 years. There are trees growing out of the beds upstairs.... it's exactly as the old lady who used to live there, left it when she moved into a nursing home, down to the night dresses hanging in the cupboard. Do I visit? With a camera?!!! I have spent hours and HOURS lurking in there, in an un-trespassing manner....

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

Very nicely done! But about those talking walls...sometimes maybe not!
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Unknown said...

I love how you can see through that room to the bright daylight on the other side....yet the room seems pretty dark and dreary to me. Let's camp out there one night during blog fest!

Ann Marie said...

i LOVE that window..
and I agree with the Bay Kids.. monster house..

Shelley said...

You and I share the same interest in these mystery houses. I often can imagine old rundown ramshackle places in their heyday. I love the picture, and I love your musings.

foolery said...

I'd live there.