ch-ch-ch-changes to the neighborhood
Mar. 18th, 2012 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halavanaSeveral months ago I drove by the corner up the road from my house and saw my neighbors loading up several pickup trucks. Considering that I was on the way somewhere I just thought that the son who'd lost his job and moved in with his parents was now moving out. Maybe he found a new job! Cool! Didn't think anything else about it until the place was sitting empty for a few weeks. Not a soul around for a long time. Turns out, as Dad discovered from the mailman, the house had been condemned as unfit for habitation because the sheriff noticed they were draining their wash water out on the ground and not into a washpit or septic tank. Things went downhill from there. Apparently the situation was repaired because a "for sale/rent to own" sign was put in the yard. Workmen came and went so we assumed the place was being improved.
This morning Dad went out to get the paper and saw flashing lights at this corner. He then saw the house on fire. The place is maybe half a football field away from us and there was a crosswind, so we'd have never noticed it until the next time driving by. By 7:30 the house was nothing but a pile of ash and twisted metal. Firemen stayed around sifting through the ash and I'm sure I passed the fire inspector on my way to church.
On the way home, drove by and paused a moment to contemplate the change made on that corner. A propane tank, central heating unit charred hot water heater on a cement slab replaced the former bungalow. They were good neighbors. Kept to themselves, but visited with Mom & Dad occasionally. People who live in this area usually moved here to find a place where they would be left alone, so most of us don't do more than smile and wave in passing. They left no forwarding address so we have no reliable way to contact them. It's like they wanted to disappear. Where ever they are, I wish them well.
This morning Dad went out to get the paper and saw flashing lights at this corner. He then saw the house on fire. The place is maybe half a football field away from us and there was a crosswind, so we'd have never noticed it until the next time driving by. By 7:30 the house was nothing but a pile of ash and twisted metal. Firemen stayed around sifting through the ash and I'm sure I passed the fire inspector on my way to church.
On the way home, drove by and paused a moment to contemplate the change made on that corner. A propane tank, central heating unit charred hot water heater on a cement slab replaced the former bungalow. They were good neighbors. Kept to themselves, but visited with Mom & Dad occasionally. People who live in this area usually moved here to find a place where they would be left alone, so most of us don't do more than smile and wave in passing. They left no forwarding address so we have no reliable way to contact them. It's like they wanted to disappear. Where ever they are, I wish them well.
