Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Boring Crap That Happened


I’m not around much these days. I think that I’ve been spending less and less time blogging since the spring. It started as a break after a brutal A-Z Challenge, but since then I think a lot of my mojo for blogging has gone whoooosh.

I’ve not announced anything, mostly because I’m sure that as soon as I say that I’m not going to post more than once a week I’ll turn around and start putting stuff up every day. But as the summer has worn on I think I’ve come to realize that posting isn’t so tough, but responding to comments and visiting other bloggers is what’s suffered.

So, fair warning to all, I love everyone but I’ve been a bad responder/visitor of late. I don’t see that changing real soon. Please forgive me (if you’ve noticed at all).

My wife told me she bought a shed to go in our backyard. She said she wanted a workspace to use as an office for her day job, and something that she could use to work on her stained glass. Sounds great.

Then she got horribly ill and had to stay home from work to recover. She called me at the office last week and told me I had to rush home. Worried, I took off.

I arrived home to find that the shed was on its way. She said it’s a bit bigger than I might be expecting so she needed me to remove a few portions of the fence.

I immediately got worried. I recall that those 4”x4” posts were set very deep in the ground and affixed with concrete. I came, put on my working clothes – my ‘I heart science’ t-shirt and cargo shorts – then my wife told me that I shouldn’t wear my good working clothes, but my working clothes that are better equipped for ruination. So I changed again THEN I came out and started digging things up. I moved about a ton of concrete (from another, unrelated, project) and managed, with some labor, a bit of help, and time, to get it all cleared.

Then the shed arrived and I understood why she was being so coy, that was no shed… that was a barn. My wife bought a barn. Why would she buy a barn? It had windows, two entrances, a LOFT! Is it really a shed if it has a loft? I mean, a few more feet of headroom and it would have been a second story. The thing was huge.

And now it’s in our lawn.

Barn


Sigh. Our fung shei is shot. But we’ve got a barn.

Interspersed with the barn thing (which took place Thursday AND Sunday – I had to dig new holes as I moved the fence to fit around the monstrosity) was a meager attempt to combine quality time with the missus while still reading. It’s called Yard Sale-ing.

We drive around town and I drop the missus off at people’s houses so she can see their yard sale and I sit in the car and read. It’s awesome, we’re both really happy, she comes and gets me if they’re selling any books or cool things, then she spends the rest of the time looking at used baby blankets and glass jewelry.

While out, we were driving through this subdivision, rather typical, if clearly one without ANY homeowners association, the signs for the garage sale we were going to pointed down this little side road that jutted off of the regular streets.

And suddenly, we were somewhere totally alien: a kudzu-covered post-apocalyptic world.

See? End of the world stuff

 We drove up the little street to turn around and were astounded to find lots of abandoned vehicles that have been overtaken by nature. Weird. But pretty. I wondered around the place for a few minutes and couldn’t decide if I should be afraid of zombies or cannibalistic hillbillies.

I think the fear of hillbilly cannibals was stronger, so I didn’t get to take as many photos as I wanted to. Still, the place was awesomely creepy.

That's a car under all that nature!


The lesson? That horror is right around the corner. So be careful

15 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations on the barn. Will you be getting chickens as well?
Visiting other blogs does take a long time. (Trust me! Won't tell you how long I spent last Wednesday trying to visit IWSG posts. Worth it though.)
And the wonders of kudzu! It really will take over the south one day.

Brinda said...

Hey. I think I see someone crawling out from under the back (or front) bumper of the car in the last photo. *grin*

Trisha said...

Wow, I love that you just stumbled onto some creepy weirdness like that! Great photos. Maybe you can go back when you're better armed & take some more pics :)

Re: the visiting other blogs, yeah, I've had my slumps lately in that area too. Trying to get back into it now!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

That's a mighty fine shed you are rockin'.

Briane said...

Another cheery ending to a post!

I'd comment more but your "Places I Visit Daily" on the right side of your blog just lit up with a story that says "Sexy New Elfquest Story online!" and since it says "sex" and "elves," more or less, I'm off to visit that.

Please do not assume anything about me from anything I just said about me.

Andrew Leon said...

Dude! How big is your backyard? I have backyard envy, because, if I had a backyard big enough for a shed or a barn, I wouldn't put anything like that in it, because I'd want to use my backyard as a yard! All we have is a strip of ground.

PT Dilloway said...

That's quite the barn. Too bad the Amish weren't around to help you set it up.

Lara Schiffbauer said...

Great photos, and congrats on the barn. I bet it gets filled up faster than you think. ;)

dolorah said...

Hey, I got a yard big enough for that barn . .

You should get some inspiration from these photos.

....dhole

M Pax said...

Nice barn. That kudzu place is creepy, but neat.

Jay Noel said...

Maybe she's trying to kick you out...into the barn!

That picture of the kudzu-covered trees is freaking nuts. Like another world.

Unknown said...

Wow, that really is a barn or perhaps a stable? It looks like Mr. Ed should be peeking out there.

Those pictures are creepy cool. I'd be afraid cannibalistic hillbillies, too.

Gina Gao said...

Congrats on the barn!

www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

Golden Eagle said...

Congratulations on the new barn!

I love the pictures of the trees and abandoned car--it looks creepy, yet fascinating.

Danette said...

A bit x-fileish (which I just finished watching... doodly-doodly-doodly-doodly)

I've been a terrible blogger too. I have no motivation to blog... well, I do but, like you, the work of being a regular commenter is-- work. And I feel like I work pretty hard as it is. But then I miss the people that I have met in the blogosphere and I keep at it. Cheers!