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| "It would be so nice to move into that nice big house Ben Built." -- Great Aunt Bertha Dobson, 1936 |
We hadn't been at the farm long Saturday afternoon when Chuck Miller (of the Miller Road Millers) and his son Eric came to call. Chuck grew up here at Gilbert and now lives elsewhere, but he has dreamed of renovating the old Senter house, which was built by my great-uncle Ben Dickson, Grandma Ina's brother. Uncle Ben sold out in the mid-1930s to Bruce and Celia Senter. In the 1960 time frame, the Millers bought the property. The farm itself actually adjoins ours. I can't quite see the house from the kitchen window, so I climbed higher to take the photo on the left from the field behind our house.
Chuck and his family were here, he said, to consider again whether the old house can be saved. He and his wife lived in the house from 1975 to 1982 while he farmed. Then they left, went back to school, and established their work and home elsewhere. Life went on and the old house has been vacant "many winters." Winters are really hard on vacant houses, we all agreed. And, Chuck went on, some locust trees and an elm in the yard had died and had to be removed. During the course of this visit they had felled the trees but had not found anyone to take the wood and clean up the slash."I'll take some of that wood," said Mike. "Locust burns well. Yeah, I'd like to have it. And tell me where you want the slash."
Oh great! I knew I would come in for some of that work and I thought of my reading, my writing, the second box of pears, the little dresses for Africa still waiting to be finished, etc. But I always think that if the tree is already down, the most dangerous half of the battle has been won. "There goes my sewing," I said to myself.
So, Sunday after lunch we spent two hours at the Senter place working on the wood, pretty much finishing one tree. Mike cut the trunk and limbs into measured lengths while I removed slash and helped carry logs to the trailer.
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| The view to the east from Ben's front yard. |
Mike noted the nice location and mentioned that the house could be torn down and replaced with a house that would really meet their needs. Chuck mentioned a modular home or a log cabin. We agreed that tearing down and replacing the old structure is always an option to consider.
As I stood in the yard helping Mike with the wood, I imagined that Uncle Ben and Aunt Ida were just in the house watching me through the front window. "That's Kathy!" they observe. "Imagine her doing that work! My!" Suddenly the years seen to fall away from the house. And – well -- I guess that's why it's so hard to part with the old places.
6 comments:
I agree that the house is in bad shape. When we explored last winter it looked like an addition had been built to create a bathroom on the main floor that is now falling away from the main structure. Also, this family might enjoy a proper bathroom on the second floor. The floor plan definitely isn't perfect for modern needs.
I always feel so sad when I see old houses tumbling down. I can picture the families that used to live in them and they almost speak to me, as this one did to you. It was a beautiful home. I'll be interested to see what comes of it.
I thought the Senter place butted up against the Plank place. Please enlighten me. Your dad and I combined clover for Senter's, Planks, someone out near the cemetery, and our own, with two machines, ours and Planks. That was quite a summer.
CLOVER? Who eats clover???
That sure is a neat looking house! Too bad it's not in better shape.
Of course, you're right, Chuck. The Plank place does lie between us and the Senter place. Now that Millers own all that land, the original boundaries are blurred.
It is sad to see the old homes fall into disrepair. But I also think that when the time passes that they have lost their usefulness, we need to let them go.
Can't say as I know anything about the uses of clover either. Perhaps we use it in non-food products.
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