SNAIL MAIL --- BOXES

Apartment Complex Snail-Mail Boxes

Located at the edge of a medium sized small town in Oregon is a complex of four hundred apartments -- this is where I presently live. Trees are abundant here as well as birds and other critters. All to my liking. 

Culturally it is a laid back complex consisting of a diverse community -- many of them students at the local state university. Here one is allowed to have dogs. Thanks for that as I have Daisy my big black lab. 

The complex has located our snail-mail boxes along the entrance road where one need only walk a small jaunt to pick up mail. 

Each time I take a stroll to pick up my mail I smile at the industrial looking boxes standing all in a row. They do the job well of keeping our mail safe but I always equate them to one-legged robot distributors. I miss my old mail boxes of Kentucky that always had an air of character about them. 

 Here are some examples of Kentucky mailboxes that I would see as I rode around enjoying the scenery.

Hand painted mailboxes were quite popular. 

One of the mail boxes above is my old Kentucky box which was located along a dirt road. A cow pasture was behind the boxes and I would often say hello to the cows if they were near my box.

A gathering of old Kentucky mailboxes above are  full of character. I often wonder if someday we will no longer see these old boxes along the roads as we travel. Do you think we will ever see the day when everything will be digital mail?

EARLY COUNTRY I-HOUSE -- KY

This early country house in Kentucky is like many of the small modest houses of this form. Many dating back to the 1800's they are numerous in the southern and eastern part of the United States. This particular one was found in the country near Lancaster, Kentucky. It is a great example of the small simple I-House. Very practical, vernacular and popular in southern states.

OLD HOUSE IN SMALL TOWN KENTUCKY

My thoughts often wander back to Kentucky where I lived for six years before moving to Oregon. One category of thoughts was the historic architecture in the rural areas and small towns. Old rural architecture has been one of my strong interests since I was young. The house above resided on the main road of a small town I often rode through. Its exterior appeared to be original to when it was built  -- probably about the late 1800s. I especially liked its gingerbread trim on its front porch along with its old metal roof. 

Before I left I found out some bad news about this old lady of a house. It was going to be torn down -- probably.  I moved before a decision was made. I didn't want to know that this home, full of over a hundred years of cultural ways, would be removed from the town's main street. 

So I moved and never inquired what the decision was. I wanted to remember it like it stood so old and elegant in its worn sort of way.

To me -- change is not always for the best.

KENTUCKY OLD BARN GALLERY

Red barn found in Waco area

Living in rural Kentucky for six years, before I moved here to Oregon, I was astounded by the beauty of the old barns that still remained on their landscapes. Some were decaying and some were in fine shape as seen by the red barn above. During my Kentucky stay I took many photos of barns and plan to scatter a few posts over the next few months featuring them. All are from the central part of Kentucky. All the barns are diverse, no two alike, large and small giving us a glimpse of the talented barn builders of yesterday.

Have a seat and enjoy the beautiful day.

Decaying barn with old advertising painted on its side.

Barns have many uses today -- here are stored rolled bales for feed

Old "sentinel" barn watching over the hillside -- slowly aging.

Old and in fine shape

1819 "BEACON" BARN

1819 Rockcastle Homestead Barn

When I lived in Kentucky I was taken in by the spirit of barns. They represented so much of our rural heritage and our past personal individualism. Central Kentucky still has many of these ancient barns crouched on the land. The barns seem to speak to many folks -- as they fly by on the road in their vehicles -- saying to them  "remember when." 

Log granary section of 1819 barn

Vintage barns are like genes -- all different. Built by folks that toiled on the land yet had a certain freedom that is not known today. The above 1819 barn began as a log granary and as the farm grew, plank board additions were added.  The final barn was a "beacon" of a coming together within a family to produce the best they could.

1819 barn --  Plank Board Door

Strength and endurance paid off. No rules and regulations to tell them what they could do with their land. No federal fees to pay or forms to fill out if one wanted to grow organically and no corporate overseers of your farm.  No animals with white tags punched in their ears. Not in the early years. 

1819 Barn --  Tin  Roof

Hundreds of "beacon" barns still stand in Kentucky. Many of them alone and decaying. And yet  they have many stories to tell us. If only we would take the time to listen to them.

HOT PAD FOR AN OLD IRON -- "MAKE DO"

Found attached to an old wooden ironing board -- being used as a hot pad for an iron. Commercial truck licence almost hundred years old. Good example of a "make do."

OLD CEMETERY CLUES

Old early cemeteries such as this one in Northern Kentucky always intrigue me. The arrangement of the gravestones on the land, the shapes of the gravestones themselves, and the care being given to the cemetery as a whole. This one in Mason County was beautifully maintained and full of information about the area. By full of information I mean by reading the stones one can get a feeling for those that lived there long ago. They reveal the wars that some fought, their occupations through the symbols carved on the gravestones, their economic/social status by the gravestone placed on their grave, and the ages of the persons when they died. Some living long lives -- some short. Walk around long enough in an old cemetery and you can begin to put together a bit of history about the folks that lived in the area.

OLD VERNACULAR CORN CRIB IN THE COUNTRY

Sitting alone and unused in the hill country of Estill County, Kentucky is this vernacular hand-crafted old corn crib built probably during the early to middle part of the 1900s. Vernacular in the sense that the structure is concerned with domestic and functional use rather than fashionable. 

On the bottom of the crib runs a metal strip acting possibly as a barrier to keep varmints from entering. A small unused gate leans against its front corner. Once used as a structure to store corn cobs as feed for the farmer's domesticated animals -- it now stands as a fragment of our past. 

Its weathered silvered wood displays a contrast against the fields and woods behind it. Driving by the crib, folks can glimpse at this symbolic structure that represents what once was. Its condition has been kept in fine repair. I wonder what its future holds?

A vintage style board and batten door with old heavy hinges is the only access to the corn crib that I noticed from the road.

OLD DOOR ARCADE

At one time doors were not standardized like today's modern ones. Does that tell us something? Perhaps. Maybe it tells us that we have lost some of our uniqueness? These old doors belonged to commercial or public places -- some now vacant --  they hang like artistic ornaments. 

Old screen door to college's outdoor theater.

Old door of early church. KY

Unknown commercial use, Maysville, KY

Unknown commercial use, Mt Vernon, KY

Old bank door, unknown use now, Waco, KY

Old train station door, still in use, Maysville, KY

Old door, Grocery Store, Waco, KY

OLD KENTUCKY POTTERY

Above is a vintage photo that was featured on a postcard put out by the Kentucky Historical Society a few years back.   It features a bunch  of pottery just outside the door of  Bybee Pottery located in Bybee, Kentucky. I assumed it was a photo of their production on that day long ago? 

This postcard made me curious about Bybee Pottery so I decided to visit the place several months ago when I still lived in Kentucky. When I got there the pottery place was closed up tight and not a sign of life surrounded the exterior. Perhaps I had come on the wrong day?

Above are the buildings I found that day when I visited. All the attached buildings appeared in great shape but they gave off a ghostly feeling of desertion.

The large sign above the door announced "Bybee Pottery founded 1809!" 

I did a little research and found that Bybee Pottery had suspended operation in 2011. I was just two years late in my visit to the place.

Additional research turned up the following information on Wikipedia:

"Bybee Pottery, is a 200-year-old pottery company based in Bybee, a community in Madison County, Kentucky, USA. It was founded in 1809 by Webster Cornelison and members of the same Cornelison family."

Bybee pottery was well known nationwide for their pottery. Once they made just utilitarian pieces but eventually they made decorative pottery items too. Link to an article about the family that has operated this business since its founding.  

Below is an example of just one of the many types of Bybee ware that was made by the company. 

This wonderful company of Americana items is another example of our declining base of local companies in the U.S.

Sorry about that folks  

ROOTED

Wandering roots

Kentucky

I never saw a discontented tree,

They grip the ground as though they liked it, and

though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.

They go wandering forth is all directions with every wind,

going and coming like ourselves . . . .

~~ John Muir

Aerial tree roots

Mount St Helen's National Park, Washington State

19th CENTURY SLAVE QUARTER -- KENTUCKY

Slave House

PBS has been featuring a video series titled, The African Americans: Many Rivers To Cross. I started watching it about a week ago and found it well researched and of great interest. It reminded me of the pieces of black culture that I bumped into when I lived in Kentucky, a former slave state up until the Civil War. 

I went through my photos and notes and came up with several black cultural subjects. This slave house was of particular interest I thought. Not much is known about it except that it has always been known as a slave house. What particular function it had is lost in history. 

Built to last forever - a chiseled limestone

cooking fireplace about five feet tall. 

The brick house legacy is that it is one of three slave houses that were clustered near the big house of the slave owners during the early 19th century. This is the only remaining one of the original three. It consists of one fairly large room with a huge cooking fireplace. The place is located in Madison County, Kentucky.

Interior wall layers worn away over time

A while after I took these photos the historical society took over the care of the place. They began rehabbing it in a character that was not congruent with its architectural history -- it was to be part of a tourist place and with that the feeling of its original structure was dressed in finery known only during this century.

KENTUCKY TO WASHINGTON -- ADJUSTING MY PERCEPTIONS

Here is my new abode for now -- an apartment in a fairly new apartment complex. I do like it as it contains lots of trees, shrubs and other natural plantings. I took this photo from my bedroom window.

Since this area is all rather newly built I feel my search for old traditions is going to be a challenge. While previously living in Kentucky I concentrated on the old folkways for my blog. But now I know I will have to make some compensations while living here on the eastern fringe of Vancouver, Washington. Only time will tell what I can discover  -- but I am up to the challenge. 

As far as nature's material -- I don't perceive that it will be difficult to find as there is an abundance of it in this beautiful natural area. I expect to learn some new things from nature.

Whatever the area can offer in the world of art, nature and folkways will be my focus here. I have already spotted some nice public art work. 

Yes, I will have to adjust my perceptions but isn't that always a refreshing trail to follow. 

KENTUCKY TO VANCOUVER -- 2500 MILES -- DONE

I have finally reached my destination in tact. After twenty-five hundred miles of driving with my ninety pound dog, Sal, by my side and a U-Haul hooked behind my small truck -- I made it!

I have had some detours in my trip's planning -- this resulting in the whole moving plan being slowed down a bit. Initially I was moving to a lovely cabin in Utah but the closing on my house took extra long and the Utah cabin owner decided he did not want to wait out the closing so rented it to someone else. 

Had to do some scrambling but my son said come and stay in Vancouver, Washington where he lives. So I have done so and here I am living on the edge of the big city of Vancouver, amazed at its beauty and realizing there is a lot to explore. How life can change in a short period of time. 

My inclination is to be rather nomadic, so I will be discovering all that is possible here just in case the travel bug pops up in my head 
again.

LONNIE'S GREEN-GREEN GARDEN

 Grandfather's home, Madison County, Kentucky

Nestled next to a heirloom country home is a green-green garden -- at least for now. The home once belonged to the grandfather of Lonnie, the present care-taker and gardener. The garden is filled with lush green leafed plants that will soon enter their color phase producing tomatoes, corn, squash and other delicious vegetables.

Lonnie weeding

Lonnie reinvigorated his grandfather's long dormant garden with gusto. He tells me he is a seed saver, a non-chemical user, and enjoys working in the garden. 

He has planted many flowers around the home and even has an individual "greens only" garden. 

The only part of his grandfather's garden that was left when Lonnie took over the garden was this above grape arbor. It is now producing hundreds of green grapes. Lonnie said he remembers it being there when he was young. 

Lonnie's grandmother collects most of the grapes for preserving. 

Right now the color green predominates in the garden. Look closely at the squash leaves above -- early color is sneaking in -- orange squash blossoms.

Small green tomatoes will soon be large red ones

I believe that healthy gardens flourish 

when a gardener works with nature.

HISTORIC CHIMNEY GATHERING IN LANCASTER

These rooftops accent four historic chimneys that stand tall against the blue sky. The top spikey object to the right is from a church across the street -- it's a spire. The buildings were built in the 1800s. 

Although this photo was taken in color it took on an almost monotone quality when I developed it in lightroom. I liked these gray tones for these old grand ladies and their chimneys.

KIRKSVILLE, KENTUCKY

Kirksville

You begin by driving west around a curve, past old garages, an empty antique house, a newer church and a few old  homes -- you are practically  to the other side of Kirksville within about three minutes. There is no chance you will miss the church's high white steeple and the large white wood building that once was a general store for folks. 

You will find the unincorporated village surrounded by 

farmland and some newer homes. You can continue driving west on this same road which leads you to the next little unincorporated village and then continuing leads you to the end --  the Kentucky River. Here the Kentucky River is meandering and rather untouched by our society.

Kentucky River

When I drive through a little place like Kirksville and the nearby areas,  I am reminded of Richard Dorson's words from his book,  American Folklore -- to paraphrase -- the people bond with the land through memories, ancestry and close family ties. His words run true in rural Central Kentucky. 

HANDMADE EGG SIGN

Sign on old wood shed along a country road 

in Rockcastle county. Old cement steps and a fresh black topped road should help bring some customers.

TWO BARNS -- TWO QUILT SQUARES -- ESTILL COUNTY

This transverse barn was found along Red Lick Road in Estill County as well as the barn below. They both sport eye popping graphic quilt patterns. The idea of quilt squares on barns grew out of Ohio in 2001 and it seems as if it has been growing exponentially ever since in Kentucky. 

Now quilt squares can be found in several states. I don't know if they are as prolific as they are here, One thing I do know is that they sure light up the country side