I have a
little girl
to take care of.
Her world,
her future,
her life –
they start with me.
To teach her to be
kind
and
clever,
to show her
love –
how to and why –
and when it’s right to fight.
And to never deny
the darkness,
but always
always
always
help her shine her light.
Nothing else matters.
Everything matters.
Picture me just there
in the window
forever looking out
at the road and sky,
no more now than air
and memories
and the old, dry dust of
a thousand near misses.
You wish you could?
Well, so do I.
Another year, another visit to Loudoun County’s (maybe) most haunted house! And this one might be my last, for reasons that I’ll talk about in an upcoming post. (Are you curious? I hope so!)
Anyway…
Here she is, in all her crumbling glory, as of October 2024:
And here’s last year’s post, for comparison: https://myvirginiadiary.com/2023/10/30/this-years-visit-to-the-maybe-most-haunted-house-in-loudoun/
They say nothing lasts forever, and this house certainly won’t. In the years that I’ve been visiting, I’ve watched the old girl deteriorate a little more each season.
And who knows if the house’s story will outlast it. I hope I’ve done my part, at least, to capture some of the mystery. It will never be anyone’s home again, but perhaps it can be someone’s memory. Even if it’s only mine.
P.S. As I do every year, I’ll add this disclaimer: This house is on private property, and there are no trespassing signs posted, so please don’t go poking around where you’re not welcome. It’s easy enough to take a picture from the road.
But I will be soon!
This is just a quick post to say: Hi! I’m still here. I miss all of you something fierce! Things are happening around here in my little corner of Virginia, and I’m planning to be back in October with a weekly post. I’ve got a lot to share, let me tell you.
In the meantime, how are you? How are things? How is life?
All good here, if a bit crazy. Lucy’s good.
Pets are good.
Graham and I are tired. But good.
I can’t wait to get back to creating soon. I hope you’ll be here when I do.
Stay tuned and happy writing, y’all!
Been a while, and I hope to get back to writing in the very near future, but for now, I hope you enjoy this sweet little success as much as I did:
Yep, that’s right. Sweet Lucy Blue-Eyes has started solid foods, and she loves everything so far. It’s a whole new adventure, y’all. And so far, it’s pretty fun.
Wake.
Grow.
Bloom.
Blossom.
Change.
The season turns
again.
The past and present
are not the same,
but the cycle
is certain,
a constant.
And I can feel it –
down in my bones,
deep in my soul –
now
more than ever.
Y’all, my heart is so happy.
My parents came to visit last week. Graham’s work has been insane, and some nights he’s been up until 3:00 a.m. or later. We were struggling. We were both tired, our house was a mess. The cat’s feeling neglected. I don’t even want to talk about laundry.
We needed help. And we got it, and more.
My family has always done music. I’ve posted about it a lot, and I’m just so elated that Lucy seems to love music, too. My dad brought out his mandolin, and she was just fascinated.
Absolutely entranced. And she wanted to try it for herself.
She cried when he put it away. She’s never done that before, with any toy. (We got it back out and gave it back to her, of course.)
These little moments, they just keep coming. Lucy is an easy baby, but life around her has been generally chaotic. These sweet new memories make all that chaos seem like nothing at all.
Milk drunk, y’all.
It’s a thing.
Here, there, and everywhere you are,
my hair –
in the shower drain and on the rocking chair,
fistfuls in my hands,
landing all around in tangles, clumps, and pairs.
You and me,
we were really something, weren’t we?
One day you’ll come back,
I know –
or, at least, I hope it’s so.
Until then,
my old familiar friend,
we’ll weather the (thinning) clouds together.
“Me and Weird Hairless Cat is friends.” –Merlin
(And aren’t we lucky and grateful – and not really at all surprised – for that!)
