I hear banjos....

So, when you decide to become an exploring photographer and head down the backroads and alleyways, you should probably pay attention.....

Last week we thought we were following a map to take a backroad but the road became dirt, then got narrower and more overgrown then passed a very rundown house with Barcoloungers on the porch, then ended....Cell phones didn't work and the car was scraping dirt as we tried to wend our way out. In fact, we lost a turn signal light, but did not have to get out and walk. We joked about hearing banjo music coming from the old house at the end of the road....

Today we heard about "the oldest church in Georgia" from some nice folks in the little store in Sandy (can't remember), GA. It was "off a dirt road" but "there are signs." Thinking that it would really be something to take pictures of a church that was built in the 1700's, we set off to find the dirt road. There were signs.....and then pavement and then, the drive to the church. As we turned in the drive, we could see a very foreboding and run down house in the overgrowth next to the drive. In great anticipation of a neat discovery, we headed for the church and found....a little white building that had been resided, reroofed, repainted, reporched and restepped......just a little white building/church. The support pillars may have been in place in 1788, but not much else was. So... there was this old house at the head of the drive that needed exploring.

Banjo music now!

The woods, vines and poison ivy have completely captured this house. It clearly used to be something (maybe a parsonage?) but most of it is missing now. Curiously, there appeared to be some straw inside. Suddenly there is a loud noise overhead and 3 very large birds take flight through the trees and off into the distance. My guess is they were large owls. Heart beat slows back down. Wayne tries to get closer to the front of the house and something moves inside......loud, large and sounding alarmed.....I peer through the trees but can't see anything. Just then there's a loud running sound and something big bolts out of the back of the house and into the woods.....clearly hoofed. Cloven?

All in a day's fun, but a reminder that we are not always masters of our environment.

These are two pictures of the house. We could have gotten closer but decided we did not want to disturb anything else and would let things return to (para?)normal.