Feral Cats Remembered

I like seeing photos of feral cats. They live wild and survive but die forgotten. Like our own ancestors and all the creatures (human and animal) on the planet before us. They seldom get photographed. So, it is nice to have some evidence of their existence, a way to keep them remembered.

Source of quote and photos: Todd Tripp

I went back to look for the feral colony today. They were not there, and their bag of food was not there. I’m hoping they got into homes.

I did see this fella I call “Old Man” elsewhere. I was worried about him last time I saw him, as that left eye was in pretty bad shape. He looks scarred there now; I’m guessing it’s a duelling scar.

He had company today in this little queen. And three kittens. One hid under wooden steps. Another kept to the side. A third looked sickly.

Start Noticing Layers in the Urban Environment

I may be weird but I especially like the little details like painted over numbers and such. Something rusty draws me just as much as something shiny.

We recently did a couple of Thomasson exercises in my class (which focuses on the politics of ‘ruin porn’ and urban exploration), and it was an excellent way to help my students, who are mostly freshman, get to know their campus and start noticing the changes and layers in the urban environment around them. In this post, I’ll be sharing what we discovered and what I learned about using Thomassons as a teaching tool.

Source: Thomassons: Indiana University Edition | Rust Belt Anthro

Wreckage on 31 (2007)

A man was living in a trailer on the property. No one had lived in this house for awhile. I asked for permission to walk around and see the house. He didn’t mind, just wondered why I was interested. One of the only times I have gotten permission to explore and one of the very few times I talked to someone who didn’t give me a history of the place before I began photographing it.

I don’t know if this house still stands. It had some nice, old fashioned and unique features.

Apples and Sweet Peas (2007)

An old brother and sister lived at this house until they died. No family were left to carry on with it.

The fields were being used by a neighbour, rented or bought the land (I forget which now). He stopped along the road when he saw me taking photos. Was concerned about what I was doing. But, happy to tell me the story of the place after we talked to him. At the end of the conversation he suggested we pick all the apples we wanted from the trees at the back of the house. He even invited us to come back again and pick more.

I did go back a few times to this house. I met more of the family on another occasion. Later we dug up wild garlic and daffodil bulbs which grew in the long grass. Most of the daffodils came up (three years later) in our own front yard.

Alone in the Pines (2007)

Wreckage in Barrie (2007) Gone Now

Driving through Barrie one day and noticed this place. I had my nephew in the car with me but stopped anyway. He wasn’t a little boy then but I still watched him while I had a look around. He liked seeing the old place too. These days he also explores old places (and takes more chances than I would like, especially exploring at night).

I didn’t find out much about this house. It is gone now. Made way for new townhouses. I remember it when I drive by the same area in town. It had a nice spot on a hill with a winding road.