Jack Attack

This is an old house off the freeway by the mall that Ive been wanting to get photos of for years - and I never could because:
A) its at the end of a street that has houses all around it and theres no where to park where I wont get spotted.
B) the house up until friday was surrounded by 10 years worth of blackberry bushes that were literally 10-12 feet high and about 20 feet deep.
C) theres a creepy old man that lives next door and sits on his porch waiting for "rotten teenagers" to come and try to get into the old house and vandalize it.

So - this morning I got up early in hopes the C (creepy old guy) would still be sleeping and I might finally be able to take photos of the place now that the construction crew that plans to demolish the place tore down all the blackberry bushes so I could get near the thing...but lo and behold, Old C was sitting out on his porch enjoying his morning cup of coffee and watched me wander up the street and start taking pictures of the house.

I stepped foot into the dirt where the berry bushes used to thrive and he stood up, balled his fists up, shook one at me and hollered at me - not really sure what it was that he said, as Im pretty sure it was some kind of Grumpy old guy language that Im not fluent in - so he stomped over to where I was standing and raised his eyebrow at me, crossed his arms and said "yer not thinking of trying to get in that old house now are you?" and I shyly told him "no...I just like taking pictures of broken down, rusty, falling apart things...sometimes...."

He raised his eyebrow even further up onto his forehead (I swear...it was like 3 inches higher than it normally was...) and then broke out in a big old toothless grin, unfolded his arms, put his hands into his pockets and said with a laugh "well in that case, you could just take pictures of me - Im broken down and rusty...and at least I wont letcha fall through a rotted floor and getcha killed!"

We introduced ourselves (his name was Jack) and shook hands and I asked how long the house had been there and he said he wasnt sure but hed been there at his house for over 15 years and it was there when he moved in. I convinced him I wouldnt try to go inside but asked if he thought it would be ok if I went around the backside and got a picture from there - he told me as long as he could still see me, he wouldnt send his wife after me with a rolling pin.

I got the raised eyebrow again until I promised not to get to close to it - then he walked back to his porch, picked up his cup and watched me until I got to my car. He waved as I left and the last thing I saw as I passed his driveway was him standing with his hands in his pants pocket, shaking his head.

So - I didnt go in...but I did finally get to get some pictures of it. Just wished they hadnt boarded it up with new plywood...it was so dreamy when it still had all of its old broken windows and dangly doors...*sigh*