The Ravages of Time

Another week has zoomed by and I haven't had time to get everything I wanted to get done, done. I've been meaning to update the YBR since last Sunday night when I got back home from a ride up North with the Rianna and Son-in-Law to be, Adam. So, I thought I'd put down the paintbrush for a couple minutes and indulge myself with some writing therapy.

Way back when we had just one child (1985) and were doing art shows up and down the West Michigan coast as an outlet for me to pander my photography to the tourists who visited the area, we'd take rides up North on the Sunday's that we weren't doing shows and cruise the backroads, looking for anything photogenic. Rural scenes, like farms with dilapidated old barns were always a favorite of mine, along with old school houses that had been retired from use and left to suffer the abuse of time and the seasons. One late summer day in 1985 we had packed a lunch basket, loaded up the camera gear, put Jennette in her car seat between us and headed up North with no particular destination in mind. Crusing along, about an hour into the drive, we can upon Fern School, just sitting at the intersection of two country roads, facing East and bathed in late Summer light. To me it was an impressive structure, standing there among the cornfields and as I got the tripod out of the truck and started to set up my shot I wondered how long it had been sitting there abandoned. I thought about the kids who'd spent time inside that building learning their 3 R's and wondered where they were nowadays and if any of them ever cruised by to check out their Alma Mater

After shooting a couple dozen images at various focal lengths over the course of a 1/2 hour, we packed up the gear, jumped back in the truck and headed off down the road to continue the search for images worthy of their silver content.

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Now, let's jump ahead to a early spring day in 2006. Myself, my daughter Rianna and her boyfriend Adam are headed up North to Whiskey Creek, a campground resort community where Adam's family has a trailer (click on the title link for the website). Adam is the driver and I'm in the back seat of his Saturn, just enjoying the view and the fact I'm not at home with a paint brush in my hand. All of a sudden, as we're cruising down the road, what should I see out my window, but the vestige of Fern School, Still facing East, bathed in the harsher early Spring light this time. I asked Adam to stop so we could check it out and take some pics.

I was immediately struck by the fact that it was not in the same shape it had been the last time I was in the neighborhood. The windows and the window frames had been trashed, no doubt by juvenile idiots sired over the last 20 years and were long gone. The front door had been busted down and and the interior upon inspection was littered with trash and busted up parts of the structure. I wanted to go upstairs and check out the view, but some chucklehead had decided that it'd be fun to tear apart the staircase and so without a ladder I wasn't going to be able to get past the main floor. I took some pics of the interior and then went out into the front yard and tried as best as I could to replicate the images I took 20+ years ago. Looking at the two images after I got home I was struck by the fact that after the obvious differences....no windows and what little white paint that was left in '85 is now completely gone, the biggest difference I could seen in 20 years was the tree that had sprouted sometime in the last 20 years and stood guard at the Northeast corner of the building. While the manmade structure had fallen further into disrepair since '85 Ole Ma Nature had started to reclaim the site and add some life to my image. After capturing my images, myself and Adam walked around the outside, noticing the gaps in the walls where the motar had released it's hold on the bricks, giving it the appearance of having survived an earthquake. Not too likely an event in Michigan though.....So, we crossed back over the road and rejoined Rianna in the car and headed off, on to Whiskey Creek, leaving Fern School to fend for itself there on it's corner, still looking East.

Now, with building maintainence in mind, I guess I'll grab the paintbrush and get back to work.

TC