See Amber Run...

Its 9/11, I'm in Texas and instead of watching tv with my father in the hotel room I decided to take a long drive in search of more old abandoned houses. Its incredibly warm outside and the backroads are bustling with weekend travelers. My chosen route was a mixture of known and unknown roads between Abilene and Coleman, Texas. I had an idea of where I wanted to go, but figured that it didn't hurt to take a longer route to see what else I could find.

I found a few houses, but not as many as I hope. Though I must admit that I am not all that surprised. The land in this region is mostly fenced off for cattle. From my experiences the farmland further north of here is better for finding abandoned and isolated building structures. It seems the the general usage of the land affects the number of houses I find.. Its a theory..

The first house was okay, I can't say that I am too excited with the images.. The floors were too fragile for me to enter and from the window views it didn't look all that interesting inside.

The second house was the one that I was aiming for when I set out this afternoon. Its located between Santa Anna and Coleman. I have passed it by several times, but never had the time to properly explore it. This time I was determine to check it out. It is located next to a major road, but to access it you have to turn off onto a dirt road which leads you away from the eyes of passerbys. The overgrown greenery also helps block the view from the road. Makes it easier to relax and focus on work.

As soon as I stepped out of my car I had a brief thought about rattle snakes.. Its not a thought that crosses my mind often, though it probably should considering I wander the Texan landscape with sandals more often than I should. I pushed the thought out of my head and continued on. The house was covered with green vines. All that was clearly visible from outside was the roof.

For several moments I stood outside an entrance wondering if I should push through the vegetation into the hidden porch. The porch looked weak, and I wanted to get inside.. I knew that there had to be something wonderful inside waiting for me to digitally capture it!

I push through.

Inside and I am covered with spiderwebs, but hopefully not the spiders.. I saw many of them. Stout little black spiders.. They look like the kind that can jump. I'm not afraid of spiders, in fact I love the little guys, but I still don't want them on me.

This house has a soul.. its hard to explain. I feel like I am in another world. I feel like Alice and the looking glass. everything is still inside. I'm in whats left of the kitchen and notice that an empty hanging pot is suspended in front of a window covered with the green vines. its cool inside where as the outside was thick with heat.

I begin to make my way through the house. its mostly bare with the exception of the typical debris scattered across the wooden floors. On my left is a room that catches my eye. The colors inside are muted except for the bright greenery outside the window and a single sheet of wallpaper loosely hanging from the top of the wall.

it would have been a perfect photo!! I slowly step through the door into the silent room when all of the sudden I hear the Rattle snakes!!

I don't know how many there were. I never actually saw them. I knew they were inside the closet on my right and the only way they had out was at me.. They were so loud and angry. With out any thought I ran out the nearest door and continued running across the yard back to my car. From outside I could still hear them as I ran passed open windows.

My heart was beating so fast! It was thrilling, exciting and scary as shit all at once!! I have heard rattle snakes in the fields before, but never had so close of an encounter with them..

I'm going to go back in the winter when it is cooler outside and maybe borrow my friend's snakeguard pants for extra protection.. I REALLY WANT THAT PICTURE!! It was perfect and I can see it so clearly inside my head! If I don't get capture it I will go insane thinking about it!

From there the rest of my drive was calm in comparison.

I found two new house that I never knew of before. One was not so inviting and the other seemed like the strangest house I have ever seen. I'm not sure on how to explain it.. The wooden floor covered a cement foundation with shallow grooves. I didn't have to worry about falling through the floor into an empty basement.. But I was concern that more rattle snakes were under the floor.

- Side note: it took a few weeks for that sound to not feel so fresh in my memory.... weeks!!

In the center of the house was a strange hallway that connected to arch shaped doors on opposite sides with a floor of cement slabs that matched the exterior porch floor.. It was a wide hallway with living rooms on either side.. I don't think the doors were wide enough for a modern vehicle but maybe for a stage coach of some sort.. but it looked like it should have some sort of function to it..

It was around then that I began hearing what sounded like an angry animal walking around.. after the snake encounter I decided that I wasn't quite up to anymore Amber vs Nature adventures.. The heat was also starting to get to me. I then made some notes about the house and headed back toward Abilene to meet Dad for dinner.

The Hitchhiker from Florida

On my way toward the third house I saw a man walking along the highway. I had noticed him earlier in the day when we past through Turpin, OK. He was walking south and covering his ears as we passed by. I felt bad for him.. The next town was a 30 minute drive away and he looked exhausted, who knows how long he had been walking.. So I turned around and pulled up in front of him.

Strangely, as I pulled up, he just sat down on the grass and placed his hands on his head.. I asked him if he wanted as ride to Perryton, Tx and he quietly responded with a "no".. I knew something wasn't right, so I decided to walk up to him, pretending that I couldn't hear him with the passing traffic, and asked him again. this time he agreed and walked back to my car with me. Once inside he admitted that he thought, because of my light bar, that I was the police and that was why he sat down earlier and placed his hands on his head.. People often think I am a park ranger or something similar when they see me pull up in my escorting vehicle.

I found the guy to be intriguing and really cool, he asked alot of questions about me and shared loads of information on our various subjects. I think he was trying to show me that he wasn't a stereotypical homeless man. He kept using that word "Stereotype" when we talked about people. for example he asked why so many hotels in the country were owned by Indians and then, before I could respond, he would say that "thats stereotyping". I sensed that he probably dealt a lot with being stereotyped and probably because of his experiences could see when he noticed stereotypes of others.

He saw that I was into arts and kept mentioning artists he had heard of and bits of trivia about them.
Most of his info was a bit misleading, Such as Andy Warhol is currently teaching in Ohio University, but it was obvious that he was proud of the information he had.. He wasn't boasting his knowledge like other people sometimes do, he was eager to share what he had learned from others during his trip and remembered learning from his days in highschool.

The funniest moment was when he asked, after seeing that I was reading a book from a latino author, if I was Cuban. Smiling, I responded with no and asked why he thought that. He said I looked cuban to him and went on to describe the diversity of Cubans. The funny thing is that I have been researching ways to legally enter Cuba and this odd and out of nowhere interaction between us seemed to be sign that I need to go!

All and all the guy was really charming. I learned that he was homeless in St Petersburg, FL and one day began walking toward Alabama. From there he kept going north and somehow got a ride to Missouri. He decided that it was too cold for him there and felt that maybe he should return to Alabama. He is taking a strange out of the way direction to get there, but I don't think he minds. When we got to Perryton, TX he was thinking that maybe Amarillo would be a better idea for the next few months.

I dropped him off at the local truckstop with a few dollars to for food and water. He had everything he owned with him in an old, torn and dirty backpack. and strangely I wanted to be him.. Sure he has to deal with problems that I rarely come across if at all, but still I am drawn to this walk of his. The world he sees must be so different from mine and I want to understand it first hand..

After dropping the Homeless man off, I never did get his name :(, I drove north a few miles to the third house.. I noticed it a few times when we come across the Texan and OK panhandles. The house was a single story, white with red trim and looking picturesque in its green surroundings. The door was easy to open and once inside I found what is possibly the greatest find ever!!! a western Mural on one wall with a tacky floral easychair resting in front.. PERFECT picture!!! I loved it!! the mural had some damage and the ceiling material was all over the floor.

While exploring the rest of the place I noticed the police outside, parked behind Simone.
This is the very first time in the past two years or so that I have ever been caught inside an abandoned house by the police. I wasn't sure how much trouble i was in, but decided that the best thing for me to do was to walk right up to them with my best smile and be completely straightforward.

It worked!!! I put my hand out to shake his, which I think caught him off guard and introduced myself. he asked what I was doing and I quickly explained that I am working on a photo series of abandoned rural houses and came across this one during my travels. He told me that it was probably okay that I photograph the outside but if the owners came by they might not be happy with me. I apologized and said that I fully understand the risk that I was taking, and that I meant no harm except to preserve what I found with photography.

I then brought up how I would love to ask the owners for permission, but with most of these houses being so rural and isolated I never know where to look for the info, and if he had any i would greatly appreciate it.. He did not have any information regarding the owners and couldn't remember a time when there were people living here.. We talked some more and then he drove off leaving me behind to take some more picts... :P:P

EUREKA!!!!

For the past three months I have tried onerously to find the name and some basic information of an abandoned town located near Brady, TX! Finally I have succeeded!

Camp San Saba!!!!

I saw a few buildings from the Highway and was tempted to hop the fence and explore what was left of the town, except that the Highway was a major highway that had many police patrolling by... The place looked really interesting and I decided it was best to find some information and try to get some legit permission to enter. If it was only a house or two then I would have flown caution to the wind, but from the fence it looked like a whole town existed among the texas shrubbery..

Sadly the information on the gate sign was useless and it wasn't until I found the website: http://www.texasescapes.com that I happened to come across the town's name and some history.

Now I work on gaining access!! ;P

The house with a surprise...

After my meeting with Martin and Marci I continued my journey toward Coleman, TX until I found this old farm house sitting far off in the distance from the main road. I drove down a narrow dirt road leading toward the abandon building. I carefully maneuvered myself through the rusty barb wire fence and ran toward the house. Stopping only to take a photo here and there.

Inside the house was a huge surprise! I have found some unpleasant things in houses before, but was in no way prepared for this find. Two young cows had at one point entered the house and died. From the looks of it they died together and their remains, which were nothing more than skin and dried bones, were there for a long long time.. Each cow was in a corner on either side of the window that I originally poked my head through. They were facing one another. It was heart breaking... I hope it was painless.

I do want to return the next time I am in the Coleman area. Looking at my photos now, I see new angles that I could have photographed the house from and I think I will make more of an effort to enter the house as I was, for reasons unknown, a bit hesitant. Plus I want to rephotograph the interior when the sunlight outside isn't so strong. The couple pics that I did get, and chose not to publish, were in my opinion mediocre and touristy. The strong light peering through the window bleached the most interesting details of the scene...

The Story of Martin and Marci

As many of you know I have this deep affection for old derelict and abandoned houses, especially those fading away in rural landscapes.. Most of the time I am left to my own bursting imagination at concluding the story behind the rubble, but on a rare occasion I have the pleasure of learning the truth..

I was driving back from San Antonio and heading toward Coleman, Tx via Hwy 87 North when I came across a couple of old wooden houses on the right side of the road.. Both were surrounded by Texas shrubbery and behind some frail fencing. The houses looked like they have been empty for many many years! It was noon and the sun was high in the sky without a single cloud. One of the houses was definitely in better condition than the other and there appeared to be a drive way still in use leading to a new and possibly occupied home in the background.

For a brief moment I thought about just making a quick note in my sketchbook about where the house was located and return later, but I knew that with my job a "later" may never actually materialize. So without too much more thought I did a U-ey and pulled right into the driveway.

I was right, the driveway did lead to an occupied house and standing in front was an older couple, both looking at me with quizzical expressions. Quickly I reached for my camera and a business card (good thing I got these printed out!) and walked up to them with my more sweetest of smiles!
The Couple were Martin and Marci. They owned one of the two houses, the other apparently belonged to someone else unknown and unmentioned.. Martin was born and raised in the older house. He and Marci both spent the first 15 years of their 45 year marriage in that home.

It was apparent that the building, though would have to someday come completely down, meant a lot to them, especially to Martin. They built the newer house about 30 years ago when their family began to grow larger.

When I met Martin and Marci, they were in the process of moving back to the house. They are getting older and realized that they wanted to return to the house they built thirty years ago. unfortunately in their absence the older home, the one I came to photograph, began to rapidly deteriorate. Martin's brother first came to remove some of the metal roofing and soon after him many others would trespass onto the property to scavenge reusable wood.. Over time the house began to collapse in on itself, leaving everything inside open to outside elements. All that is left now is two rooms, rotting furniture, some shoes, and random debris...

They kindly allowed me to photograph the house and I believe that I got a couple good ones before I had to leave.

Marci came over at some point, I suspect to check in on me, and pointed out the different objects left behind. Stuff that belonged to her children, mother in law and husband.. It was emotional to her and I hope that I was respectful enough while there. I must have been, she invited me to come back and suggested that I return when her son is around! Tempting! LOL! ;P

Like I stated before I don't usually get to hear the story behind my chosen subject matter. When I crawl around a place like this I am normally alone and I guess in some way detached from the reality. These ruins are no different to me than those in Rome. This experience, however, has given be a new perspective or direction with my photography.. I realized that I am capturing American Stories. Even when I don't know the story.

Small Town Texas

I have spent quite a bit of time in this small Texan town because of the windtower business. But for the first time this weekend I got to see the nooks and crannies that often eluded me. Why or how could I have missed these wonderful detail? I'm afraid to say that I had originally assumed that there wasn't anything here of too much interest. obviously I was wrong.

Great adventures happen only when the adventurer is ready to shed preconceived notions and run wild..