It’s a Lot

January 24, 2022 Erin Unger Places 0

This is gonna be hyper-local, yet again. I’m going for it anyway, because I figure I should probably write about this before it goes away.

Andrew and I live next to an empty lot. It faces Main Street and creates what some would call a gaping hole. I guess this scenario is much like what you might read about in the novel Once Removed, but maybe don’t read into that too much. (Haha, as if I could stop you, though.)

I’ve come to love this empty lot. It’s wildness is frequently fought back by the blades of various yardwork implements, but I admire how quickly the lot recovers its ecosystem.

I have had a few (what I think of as ) magical experiences on this seemingly mundane lot.

First, Andrew and I encountered a rabbit guarding her nest of babies here. We were transfixed. She had put her nest by the big SAC sign, perhaps because that part doesn’t get mowed as much.

Another time, I was wandering around the lot, taking pictures. I think these plants are very beautiful and resilient and I enjoy watching them flourish, and I’m devastated when they’re cruelly cut down. Anyway, it was sunrise. I was looking down as I wandered, admiring the persistent wild greenery.

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

“Some pretty flowers here, aren’t there?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin! My head snapped up and I saw that I had bumbled my way to the sidewalk where an elderly couple was standing.We talked about the lot a bit. He told me that he remembered what had been on that lot a long time ago: a hardware store.

I think he said its name had been Barkman Hardware. He had worked there when he was young.

I don’t think I asked him very good questions about it, though. Instead, I reverted to the now, inquiring about the pile of fieldstone foundation pieces at the back of this lot, and the apple tree. My inquiry was not very interesting. I’ll need to sharpen my skills. But at any rate, the early morning exchange of memories and observations struck me as being rare and special.

Like this lot!

Weird, I guess. Andrew disagrees with me for loving it as it is. I think though, that the more I enjoy it, the more likely it is to be developed very soon. So it goes. Who am I to stand in the way of progress, I suppose.

For all I know, it’s unwise to talk about a lot. But I get a little sick of people speaking in vague symbols, trying not to “get in trouble” somehow. If I’m gonna talk about my appreciation for an ugly, oft-overlooked lot, I’m going to be specific.

So here it is! Just a few pictures of the lot. Some bring me joy, others frustrate me, others fascinate me.

Fresh rain. Water droplets.
Forgotten, wind-blown box, and luscious quack grasses.
The pile of fieldstone foundation remnants, in the center of the frame. To the slight right, an ugly fitness centre (hey, come on, I’m gonna call a spade a spade here). To the very far left, nearly out of the frame, is an apple tree.
Looking up at the forgotten apple tree. Nobody tends to it. It is precisely in the middle of the section, at the back of every lot, entwined with the hydro pole.
Desire path. Leading from the ugly fitness centre (behind the photographer/me), past the pile of foundation stones, to the dumpster behind Shoppers Drug Mart.
Foundation stones, apple tree, desire path.
Empty lot & sleek SCU.
Scattered boxes and alfalfa.
Lot in January.

Sometimes when I wander the lot and see what grows here, I think about the fact that I don’t really know what I’m looking at. Laura Reeves would know.

That’s another post for another day.