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Long ago, in another life,
While out exploring back roads
In the state of Pennsylvania... Penn's woods
I found this house standing abandoned
By a small river
Waiting quietly for whatever
Fate might have been holding in store for her
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Tomorrow I am going back to Pennsylvania
And will be out again on the back roads
The forgotten roads
Looking for my dream house
Looking for something I know is there
Though I don't know what or where it is
I am still searching
Will know it when I see it
But it haunts my dreams
And no doubt will do so forever . . .
There are worse burdens to bear . . .
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So, yes, for the next three weeks I will be travelling. A heavy week of selling straightjackets, followed by two weeks of vacation. I may be somewhat absent from the blogosphere, depending on where wifi is free, depending on the imponderable variables of roadhouse lodgings, depending on the gods of serendipity and travel. The camera is coming with me, and I hope to bring home a little material for many future blog posts . . . for your pleasure. And mine. (and as Steve at Bloggertropolis would certainly add... for Alice Roberts pleasure also... whoever she is... according to Steve by including her name in a blog post, traffic on the blog has been known to go through the roof !)(and if you're wondering what that was all about, do drop by Steve's place, there is a link in my sidebar)
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Anyway, this house was photographed on a backwoods road in Pennsylvania a little over 20 years ago. When I was still shooting black and white film... I hope to see it again. Or something like it . . .
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35 comments:
Owen, how awesome. You're going to Pennsylvania and in the early fall. Oh, how I envy you.
I love that first photo - the moving whiteness of the water contrasting the house against the soft details of the trees in the background. I can't imagine a better setting for a dream house.
Have a marvelous trip. Go have an Apollos Cheesesteak if it's still there (it was 3 years ago) and take lots of pictures. I will be greedy for them!
Good luck finding your dream house and most important, enjoy the journey that takes you there.
Happy Trails my friend!
may your journey be blessed with raccoons
revelations
reveries
reality checks
reverence
rambunction
resilience
remembrances
risk
repasts
restoration
and
raccoons
Really!
xo
Adventures Ahoy!
The house of your dreams, that is what you will find and receive Owen,,that is for sure. I wish you a wonderful journey, back to America, back to the roots perhaps. Maybe it may be useful to visit such places, like that cozy old cottage in the middle of the forest, in order to recover the dreams and fantasies that inhabited in our younger minds, and that unfortunately use to fade by the effect of the time. A good journey Owen, enjoy, wander around, take lot of pictures, both with your camera and with your senses. We will be waiting here, waiting for you to share all those instants with us,,your friends, your blog gang!! =)
See you soon Owen and wish you all the best.
Have a fabulous trip, can't wait to see the photos and read the stories! There's plenty of rumbled old houses down this way at present so feel free to detour! :-)
hi Owen, you found such a dreamy house.
It's beautiful, eventhough one could not really how it look like in reality... but I guess that is the most interesting part of black and white photos:)
Enjoy your travel!
Look forward to your post!
I hope you have a beautiful journey visiting your past life Owen. I hope you find your ultimate dream house. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us on your return.
Meanwhile I'll just sit here and look at that picture of the crepe...
Love that house. And how it leans. We should all look that good in our decline.
Came via your comment on Steve's Alice Roberts post, so you can count me as one of those following the Alice trail to your ( ahem ) door.
I've owned various houses, one of which I built, and most of the rest of which I remodeled. I like the idea of a dream house, but there's a good chance I'll be dead in 20 to 30 years, and part of the attraction of a dream house is that it be a safe haven over the longhaul, yet I no longer have a longhaul. This takes much of the attraction out of the dream.
The one genuine, certified dream house that I did build housed me for ten years before my dream changed, and I moved to Oregon in search of something that was more about people than houses. Houses are a puzzler...I'll probably be content to stay here in my 55 year old ranch-style until I die. Then again, Western Oregon is overdue for a major earthquake, so I might not even have a house for much longer, and that's if a flood doesn't get it. Such is life.
Good luck with re-discovering your dream house. I like louciao's blessing. I wish you the same but with squirrels also. Have a safe trip.
The Alice Trail... hmm. I like it. I think we might be on the cusp of a new internet phenomenon... went to Pennsylvania myslef about 10 years ago and loved it... a wonderful part of the world. I look forward to seeing what magic you bring back in your camera.
I'm looking forward to some gorgeous Penn photos - is that your home state btw?
Have a wonderful trip, Owen et famille
Hi Owen, it would be a thrill if you found this old romantic place..
very haunting.. black and white shows it well.. take care...
Be glad to see you back...with the photographs....
You should get many lovely photos in PA and I look forward to hearing about your travels and seeing the pictures in future posts. Safe travels.
have a great trip and look forward to seeing more shots like this - wonderfully evocative and atmospheric house!! Greetings from mexico
breathless! this first picture must be one of your finest works, ah! and what makes me crazy is the slight leaning of the house, it adds a surreal touch to an otherwise perfectly balanced and realist image! i'd certainly love to have this one printed and framed :-)
(not to mention that texture!!!)
have wonderful holidays, dear Owen, and come back with your bags full of amazing pictures and stories, to delight us in your usual way!
hugs hugs and hugs
Un peu de guingois ces maisonnettes!!!!
It must be great to get close enough to smell the wood, to hear wind blowing through ... A safe road ahead for you !
I always have been fascinated by your stories about and pics of dream houses. And somehow the first picture in this post gives me a familiar feeling. I must have seen it before. Probably in a post you did when your blog was still young, Wish you a wonderful trip and hope you encounter wonderful things (if not this dream house again).
Owen, I hope the straitjacket part doesn't get you too knotted up and the holiday part is your just reward.
I am quite intrigued by Pennsylvania, but not the least familiar with it. What I do hear is that it is lovely, and if you bring some of that loveliness back with you and put it up for me to see, I'll be quite pleased.
Have a good trip - I would guess it's a sentimental one as much as anything. Take care of yourself.
Elles ont juste besoin de quelques petites réparations;o)
***
Beau dimanche*******
Owen, I wish you safe travels. Dallas, yes, is so far away. But that is not the issue. The issue is Monday and Tuesday are work days, so I can't make it. Otherwise, I would have gladly made the drive... and the tea would have been my treat, absolutely.
As for your dream house, you know I have a dream house, too. Remember? My writing den? Some place small and humble... in which to dream. Your photos, though they are 20 years old... or no... probably because they are 20 years old... will stay in my memory for some time. They haunt.
Take care, Owen. And enjoy!
Nevine
Je me glisserais volontiers dans tes valises (ou ton sac à dos ?)...
A bientôt Owen, profite bien de ces moments d'évasion. Et reviens-nous vite !
Bises
I would like to be flying through the wind there..............
(lovely house)
see you:)
I love discovering old houses like these infact I saw an old beauty with a barn yesterday. The house in your photo is in much better condition though.
It looks like you're going to be here just as the weather begins to improve.
If you have time feel free to hit me up for a Philadelphia or Bucks County Photo meetup.
In any event I look forward to seeing your pictures!
Have a safe trip!
Oh what a time of year to be in Pennsylvania! I hope you have a wonderful trip. I look forward to seeing all the dream houses you'll find in a few weeks...
I hope you are a good carpenter, electrician, plumber…! :-) But, yes I can understand!
Take care, relax, enjoy, dream… and bring back some photos of your dream house or whatever you find!
Yes it should be a brilliant time of the year to be in Pennsylvania. We look forward to the batch of photos you'll be bringing back - and perhaps snippets while you're there, wifi permitting.
As for this house oh yes I understand your search for the ultimate dream house. My husband and I dreamed of building our own "cabane au canada" for years - not so much for the country itself than for the idea of a log cabin surrounded by a large deck area.
We never got there.
Perhaps later in life...
Anyway... ENJOY YOUR TRAVELS !
You deserve a holiday!!!!
Checking in quickly here from a hotel in the heartland of America, Indianapolis, Indiana... and am out this afternoon after a long week of selling straightjackets to go poke around the town a bit, and see if there aren't some abandoned buildings out there waiting to be discovered, or maybe a junkyard or two... isn't that what all tourists want to see ?
Infinite "thank you's" for all your kind and thoughtful words here, can't tell you how much they weigh in smiles, pure smilepower...
Will be back here soon, and hope y'all are doing real well out there in the four corners of the blogosphere !
straightjackets? Really?
I love those colonial style houses. Combined with New England in the fall (where the best examples are to be found apparently). Haven't got there yet though, except in my dreams.
Intercourse, PA. Best name for a city, ever, and totally ironic as it is in Amish country. But a beautiful part of America. Have fun as you travel the USA.
encore un joli morceau de temps en mots et en images, comme tu sais si bien faire....
The waves on the shore
Can't be ignored
Soon they're all around you
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