It made me think, first, of Bodie, where le hub and I visited last summer. It's a ghost town on the border of California and Nevada; it was a bustling centre as long as the mine lasted, and then slowly fell out of use over time. A lot of the buildings are still there, and full of stuff; some places look like people just got up and walked away. It is maintained as a site of historical interest, so of course bits and pieces have been reconstructed. The whole place is a little eerie though. I like such places; it's interesting to think about the people who have walked the streets before me.
Two things that interested me about Bodie: firstly, the old Chinatown and red light street had been completely razed to the ground and there was nothing to be seen of it. It was just a grassy field. It seemed strange to me that that part of town had been completely destroyed, where the rest was still just about standing.
Secondly, apparently there's a curse attached to all the stuff there! If you find something and take it away with you, you will have terrible luck. There's a whole folder of letters from people in the visitors' centre, who found this to be true and sent the items back.
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How much of that is created by the site managers to stop people stealing stuff is for you to decide; it did make me throw back a little piece of weathered, purple glass I'd picked up, though.
Eldritch being an old English word for something weird or other-worldly, though, I continued to think on it and it made me think of the Weirdstone of Brasingamen, a book I loved as a child, by Alan Garner. I can't remember very much about it, other than it involved some pot-holing and an adventure through old English countryside, similar to The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper, another favourite.
Sometimes when I am wandering around the countryside I get the same feeling I did in Bodie: who else has walked on this bit of ground, over the centuries? The wealth of history that is lost to us forever is something I can think about for hours at a time, especially when I'm thinking about Wiltshire, which has such a rich pre-historic tradition.
Christine is picking next week's Weekword so pop over on Monday if you want to take part!
4 comments:
I get that same feeling when I walk over historic ground. :)
Bodie had that effect on me! what a tragedy seeing an abandoned house with a person's possession left behind. I have wondered if I could sleep in an abandoned house OR my car if I was stranded in a ghost town?? what would you do?
posted my interpretation a bit late. Will be posting the new word tomorrow (SUNDAY)... hope you'll invite some other participants to join us.
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