It was a sultry evening of electric-fence jumping, cowpie dodging, peacock chasing and tetanus skirting as I was taken on a tour of a sprawling cow pasture in southwestern Kentucky. What began as a visit to a wall built by slaves turned into a two-hour excursion through the lovely Kentucky countryside.
The cattle approached us curiously only to charge away upon our first step toward them. Creeks. Freshwater springs. Busted up mobile homes. Rusty farm equipment. An abandoned home that, if the rumors are believed, houses a dead body. (I didn’t want to verify this.) And yes, peacocks. My guide… Continue Reading Tag Archives: Desolation
Journey Across a KY Cow Pasture
It was a sultry evening of electric-fence jumping, cowpie dodging, peacock chasing and tetanus skirting as I was taken on a tour of a sprawling cow pasture in southwestern Kentucky. What began as a visit to a wall built by slaves turned into a two-hour excursion through the lovely Kentucky countryside.
The cattle approached us curiously only to charge away upon our first step toward them. Creeks. Freshwater springs. Busted up mobile homes. Rusty farm equipment. An abandoned home that, if the rumors are believed, houses a dead body. (I didn’t want to verify this.) And yes, peacocks. My guide… Continue Reading Desolation
In Sam Shepard’s latest short story collection, Day Out of Days, there’s a short-short story about a guy who irks the cook after hitting on the waitress and not finishing his steak. He tells the cook there’s nothing wrong with the steak; he’s just ready for pie. The cook tells him the pies aren’t ready.
“I tell him that’s fine, I’ll just go out and buy a paper and come back. I’ll stroll around the town and take in the sights. He says there are no sights; there is no town. But I tell him I’m a big fan of… Continue Reading The Town That Was
Centralia, PA – In the 1950s, boroughs throughout Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region began dumping garbage into abandoned mine pits. Once full, a controlled-burn was undertaken to make room for subsequent dumps. What then was seen as a practical solution to increasing waste eventually wasted a town.
In Centralia, sometime in 1962, one of these burns wasn’t properly extinguished and a coal vein ignited. Authorities moved to put out the subterranean fire and for roughly 10 years believed that they had.
In the 1970s, the air began smelling of sulfur and residents suffered from symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure as smoke… Continue Reading 
Thumbs Up for an American Past Time