I am fascinated by old and crumbling buildings. They speak of lives and purposes long-forgotten. Echoes remain of joys and griefs and loves and loss of hope and hope regained. Why were they abandoned?
These photos are of a family homestead in the Eastern Transvaal, now called Mpumalanga. It was very sad to see that trees grow up in rooms where the family lived and laughed and played and sang. They rejoiced in good harvests and grieved when crops were destroyed by locusts or drought. Six sons and daughters danced and courted beaux and celebrated weddings and babies’ births, and wept when loved ones died. The ebb and flow of fortune scattered the family and the home was rented out for many years, till finally the new owners, who had a larger modern dwelling finally consigned this solid sandstone house to decay and resolution into earth once more.
We made a pilgrimage to the old homestead about six years ago on a dry Highveld winter day soon after the last daughter, our beloved mother and grandmother died at 97 years old after a fruitful life. These pictures a record of the visit.
please click on each photo to enlarge.
This post was in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge. ”Abandoned” was this week’s theme. Everyone is welcome to join in the Challenge; further details on how to participate and links to others’ responses are found here.
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