This is the third and final post in the Cordova Mines Vansickle House series. Click here for parts 1 and 2.
The urge to explore the unknown resides within us. It is in our DNA. However, the Age of Discovery is behind us. There is no new terrain to map. There are no unknown masses of land across large bodies of water for us to stumble upon and colonize. The lines have been drawn, the land has been acquired, and the new subdivisions and malls are already under construction. But still, within us resides that innate desire to explore the unknown, and with nothing new to explore, we are left with only one option-rediscovery.
In contrast to the explorers of the past that ventured into the unknown in hopes of creating a brighter future, todays urban/rural explorers venture into the unknown in hopes of catching a glimpse into the past. In these dilapidated structures we can discover who we were and where we came from, and more importantly, we can connect with that history. We can live vicariously through past generations by unearthing their dated possessions and allowing their homes and workplaces to tell us their stories.
We begin our voyage by shutting the car doors, turning on the heated seats, and pressing random play on a jam packed 80 gig ipod. We plot a course on the map, well, on iphone GPS, slowly but surely traversing a grid of every highway and back road in Southern Ontario. We stop for coffee and cigars at one of an endless array of conveniently located gas stations and coffee shops. Yes, we definitely enjoy the modern luxuries afforded to todays explorers. Much like Columbus and Magellan sailed the seas in search of land, we drive these roads in search of abandonments, unsure of what we will find, if anything. While my Abandonment Issues blog posts are predominantly focused on the destinations themselves, this old Chinese proverb could not be truer- "The journey is the reward."
So to summarize, in exploration, as in life, the journey is indeed the reward. And with a vast open landscape before us offering up numerous unknown destinations and adventures, the journey has only just begun.
Disconnected
Too many cooks in the kitchen
Wallpapered dreams
Raccoon carcass
Hunter gatherers
Black and white memories
A suitcase full of feces
Silk pajamas
IX of clubs
Boob tubes
A raccoon scurried out from under the garbage bag and ran past me and the raccoon carcass and out through the open wall
Curtain closure
Well nested
For the love of reading
Ms. Pac-Man
Another raccoon was scratching feverishly under the stairs
That second raccoon was scratching the floor under my feet, following me around beneath the floorboards
No rest for the wicked
Rip torn
Belle Isle Aquarium
Cordova Mines Vansickle House 3
And just when you thought the adventure was coming to a close...
Daylight faded to pitch blackness before we reached the end of Vansickle Road, and considering how many abandoned locations can be found in this area, we can only assume that there may very well be more of them to be found. As a very young child, my grandparents rented a cottage on this road and my aunt and uncle lived lakeside. My brothers and I spent a lot of time in this area in the summers of the 1980s. We plan to return here with my mother and brother in the coming weeks and finish the adventure. If there is anything else worthy of note, you can bet that a Cordova Mines Vansickle House 4 post will be just around the corner.
click here to check out all of jerm & ninja IX's ABANDONMENT ISSUES
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