So many empty places - empty spaces; left behind...

My camera is still chock full of photos taken during my brief stint as a census canvasser. Poignant, melancholy and sadly sweet, here are some of the places nobody lives... but spirits dwell...

Ironically, one of the areas assigned to me was a large cemetery. I say ironically, because we were supposed to be canvassing to add new addresses and to eliminate defunct addresses. hmmmm... I don't think anyone here will be filling out a census form... But it was a beautiful day and a lovely, peaceful place. I sat in the shade of a huge oak and ate my lunch, pondering the meaning of life.

Don't you just love the ironwork?! It appears to be early twentieth century, 1910 or so... Each partitioned area or family plot varying in detail, and elaboration.

Fabulously medieval! But do the barriers fence interlopers out - or keep kin within?

And perhaps a ghostly spirit or two dwells herein...
The diamond detailing in the gable ends lend elegance to this simple farmhouse now sadly bereft of human inhabitants - but home to a bat or a nest of chimney swifts - and the scent of new mown hay.

And here is my favorite - a sweet stone cottage nearly overgrown by lush foliage -
but strong in its space, and enduring in grace.

It was all I could do not to climb through the ivy - down the rabbit hole, so to speak - to peer back at this world from that one, to know what lies beyond the cool deep shadows and dark windows...

Shrouded in time and mystery, I see it as the perfect hideaway - a place where magic might yet be possible, where hushed voices sing in soft whispers of time gone by...

Here's one that combines Federal style with the gambrel roof line so popular in hot, humid climes. A beautiful entryway complete with transom, double windows, and lovely twin chimneys!

This old Victorian with its ample porch and lovely shade trees sits snugged up to the street that was once the main road south out of town. Just imagine carriages pulling up in front when the highway was but a dirt road.

Beautiful in its simplicity and symmetry, this old barn remains. Don't you wonder who toiled here? The seasons were many and the harvests bountiful - and yet the barn stands empty and alone.

House? Barn? Shed? Perhaps all of these things at one time or another...

And finally - a bit of "urban" decay. These grand old brick structures remind me of all small towns' downtown glory days. Boarded up, burned out, abandoned or let cheaply to thrift shops and store-front churches - and yet - dignity remains.