"Lost in Time"

Every once in a while, I come across a house that looks like someone meant to come back, but they just never did.  These ones are interesting and my mind starts asking all kinds of questions.  Why didn't anyone come back?  Were they elderly and thought they would come back, but went into a nursing home and never made it back?  Did they move to another house and still own this one, but never sold it?  The reasons someone would leave a house and a car parked in the front like they're in the back hanging laundry out on the clothes line, and not gone for decades, is so intriguing.  Apparently, it happens more than I realized.  Once I started paying attention to how these homes are left, there were so many odd things.  This one is in a canyon at the base of a forest and foothills, and the winters here must have been long and harsh.  Even so, it would have been that simple life that I wish I'd been a part of.  

"Independent Grain Co."

Finding a red grain elevator is rare.  I don't see them very often, even though I always look for them.  In the little town of Clyde Park, Montana, there are two of them.  I grew up about an hour from Clyde Park, and have seen them many times on those long road trips out of town.  They were always an icon that we were close to home and it wasn't going to be much longer.  They've stood the test of time, retaining their bright color through out the winters and sweltering summers.  Built to last, and they will. 

"Against the Grain"

We're a couple of days into the Fall season, and the weather isn't taking its time changing.  It's definitely noticeable that Summer is no longer here.  The green has gone from the trees and grass, and those overcast skies are showing up more often.  I do like the Fall though.  Usually, in Montana, the temperatures change so drastically in the summer that I'm ready for some cooler, more temperate days.  There's a quietness to the Fall that I love.  Summer is busy and full of travel, company, and events that it goes by before I know it.  Fall is when I start to feel that urge to slow down.  I edit my photographs on those cold days, and take my time with the fruits of my summer labor, traveling and taking photographs every other weekend.  These old abandoned buildings are by far my favorite thing to find, and my favorite thing to photograph.  Surrounded by nothing but space, it's hard to imagine any human being inhabiting them.