The \"Ties\" that bind

Jim Walls

Sorry, not heating, at least not until they light the fire tomorrow. I will try to be brief though. The following pictures are from the demolition of a house that has been in my family for 104 years.My Great-grandfather built this home in 1899. He was a Tie maker & foreman for the DT&I Steam railroad (Hence the title,,,,,sorry ;-))One picture is of a lantern top discovered in a wall after the siding was removed, another is of a log he chinked to insert in a plank, all the floor joist were made this way,hand hewn flat on the top, most still had the bark on them. The last picture is off the house topling, it was in bad shape,not much to look at even when it was liveable, but it holds a special place in my heart.My Great Aunt Mary was an old maid, she lived her entire life in this home, 94 years. She was incredible,I'll leave it at that.
I have driven past this place probably 20 times since she passed on (1 1/2 years ago) & never considered stopping, yesterday on the way back from a job meeting.(house is in a small village 6 miles from my hometown)I suddenly got an urge to stop, I discovered they were to knock it down that evening. So I asked if I could come back & take pictures.
I guess the thing that gets me ,is why did I decide to stop this time?
Now,,,,,,,,,, I'am a realitively sane person, please ,take my word for it, my friends are just a bunch jokers :-).
However, in 1979 while living in Columbus, Ohio and working in West Virginia, I fell asleep while driving a one ton pick-up late at night. My Great-Grandmother kept speaking to me ( she had been deceased for several years) until I awoke just before the truck struck a large pot hole sending me careening around bouncing my head off the ceiling, had I not awoken just prior to this I never would have been able to control the truck.Maybe ,I had a dream, maybe not. I choose to believe not.
Sorry, for being off topic & the length,I was just moved to share this, because you see, I got to reconnect to some very special people yesterday, just not sure who connected first?

Jim Walls

I said I would leave it at that but I cannot

Have you ever gone sledding in a metal wash tub, with a 60 year old women wearing a dress, you know the kind, like the one Aunt Jemima wears on the syrup bottle? She was a hoot!!