Architects of a New Dawn

We’d like to show the side of the world you don’t normally see on television.

This year the intrepid traveler embarked on his early July jaunt south in the wee hours of the morning...the expressway traffic was light yet still spotted with cars and trucks as are all of the highways that skirt the Chicago periphery...despite the absence of congestion and aggravated commuters this early on, the alleviation of urban angst was every bit as tangible the farther from the metro core I drove... and the closer to the Illinois/Indiana border I motored, the greater the volume of “Krazy Kaplin’s Fireworks” roadside adverts I noticed especially so closely following the 4th of July where you always get “more bang for the buck” and “pyrotechnics for the price”...in addition to constant the roadside reminders of this fireworks emporium, there are the assorted salacious signs and lubricious billboards to also remind us that The Shangrila, Deja-Vu, Club O, Pole Katz, Showgirls and Atlantis gentlemen’s clubs were just an off ramp away and these prurient signposts continued well past Gary Indiana recurring only on the outskirts of Indy, Louisville and at times in close approximation to the larger truck plazas... the neighborhood homes along part of this economically challenged stretch of road was also the scene of a surrealistic two story house inferno that illuminated the surrounding night scape on the final leg of my journey home...

The seedier side of interstate travel advertisements was quickly annulled by the sprawling farmlands south of Merrillville, Indiana and replaced by a sense of tranquility and quietude that to some is the unequivocal panacea to the hypertensive stress of the daily grind only a drive in the country can provide...the wind generator farms that are now popping up along
the rural horizons do not detract from the heartland skylines as I feared, they actually broke the emerging, featureless monotony with a futuristic abstract surrealism as their enormous blades slowly turned in unison against the orange tinted, predawn glow of the eastern sky like the props of a giants sky ship or the propellers of a fleet of ocean liners that floating eerily above the patches of morning fog that blanketed the ground below....

The emergent mountain region that is always a such a spectacle to us Midwestern Flat-landers is probably taken for granted by those that see it every day much the way the city sky scrapers that define the Chicago skyline eventually fade from our notice but astounds Out-Of-Towners ... even the iron rich, red dirt of the Appellations proved to be a renewed source of amazement to me when a freshly bulldozed plot of crimson colored, roadside property burned past my speed blurred periphery again invoking the equation of a Martian landscape ...The composition of the soil in conjunction with the crystalline base of this mountain mantle has been theorized to be a catalyst for supernatural activity by many ...

This trip included return visits to a couple of sites that yielded some interesting photos last time around in addition to several new locations that have raised the ire of the locals more sensitive or adept at detecting potential supernatural activity or spiritual presence...there were a couple of old houses that radiated a familiar resonance that regional or geographical diversity seldom diminishes or amplifies but at times can exude a distinct energy signature that is innate to certain areas ...and this particular variable seems to be specifically engendered to distance as opposed to the history inherent to a certain site ...perhaps this is related to the iron rich, crystal quarts abundant mountain base in this case ...

One aspect of this excursion that deviated from my usual quixotic quests was the moral conflict I had to wrestle with in regard to chronicling the investigation of the crash site that claimed the life of a popular High School athlete as the result of apparent speeding and or reckless driving by the vehicle’s driver (whom survived the crash) and perhaps to a degree his own negligence as his failure to wear a seat contributed to his tragically premature death as the young man was ejected from the car ... from the looks of the crash site, damage to the trees and Googled news photo of the car it was a horribly violent wreck... and apparently these abruptly curving and dipping mountain back roads have claimed many lives judging from the preponderance of makeshift memorials I noticed within the radius of this particular grid of notoriously dangerous cris-crossing roads ...a grid that claimed 2 seniors from the same HS weeks apart and so close to graduation ...

When I arrived at the site that has generated reports of strange, inexplicable activity in the wake of the accident, the first thing I noticed was the graffiti spray painted all over the street by classmates, family and friends...a permanent looking memorial was erected on the exact spot where the car came to rest complete with a cross and an accompanying inscribed stone...beyond the marker and bent or broken tree limbs was a medium sized tree trunk with a bark bare spot marked with a red X...a few feet below and away from the base, red spray paint was still visible despite the efforts of the amber colored earth sprinkled liberally over that specific spot to deliberately conceal the markings on the ground were this young man evidently perished after being thrown from the cartwheeling car...

The personal conflict I was experiencing over including photos and commentary was immediately replaced with a moment of clarity and the decision to include these photos in hopes of instilling a cautionary reminder of the consequences of reckless driving, drag racing, DUI or neglecting the simple snap of a seat belt that spared the driver albeit his flagrant carelessness and perhaps a momentary lapse in judgment that will haunt him and others for life...there is no mention of the specific circumstances that precipitated this tragedy only that a seat-belt may have saved the life of teen with so much promise. And as I decided to include the still shots of the crash site, I also decided not to analyze those photos for anomalous features....

There was always an attraction felt for a certain old house along one of the main stretches of road the last few times I made my way through this part of the mountains as it was perched so precariously atop a hill, irresistibly curious in all of it’s run down ruminations...across the street it’s yellow colored vacant counterpart must have finally succumbed to seeming uninhabitability as one of the back window was broken out and the previous occupant’s possessions were stacked haphazardly on the front porch and strewn about the front lawn as the probable result of rummaging looters... my passing observation of the two odd homesteads from the past year’s visit to this area included the presence of assorted vehicles parked in front and this to me was the initial deterrent from pulling off of the main thoroughfare for a closer look last time around and now none were to be found...

The gray, fading pallor of the old single story house may have instilled a sort of nostalgic charm if the stained imprint of generational oppression had not so inexorably permeated the very grain this of the structure itself and the hilltop for which it at one time was so majestically perched...a number of old rusty paint cans lined the railing of a front porch
that creaked with each step closer I took to the unhinging wooded screen door ...the tinny twang of an old spring affixed to the inside of the door seemed to herald my final crossing of the threshold to the interior... the musty, dank air was to be expected as the ambiance of the dim light filtering through the dirt and dust opaqued windows confirmed the long absence of occupation...the creaking recrimination of the aging floorboards threatened to introduce me to the crawlspace below with each increasingly cautious footfall as if it was voicing in opposition for my non verbal expression of disdain for the state of disrepair the house looked to have been in prior to abandonment...

A lone Christmas wreath sat on an old folded up throw rug draped across a number of window screens leaning against the wall next to a window ...the growing discomfort I was feeling intensified as the nascent nausea I experienced upon entry overwhelmed me with the added component of equilibrium instability and I knew I needed to get out of there as this was either a portal to hell or a bio hazardous, former meth lab (or both) but persevered the instinctual need to flee in favor of a few more photos ...as I made my way to the partially opened window facing north and glanced outside through the frame of another screen door placed crookedly over it, I noticed a gleaming white Ford F250 “dualie” rolling down the gravel driveway from an impeccably neat ranch style homestead atop an even higher vantage point overlooking the two ramshackle shacks (and me) ...fearing an unpleasant confrontation with a shotgun wielding
southern gentleman charged with the deed of overseeing the now vacant 2 homes that were already the objects of indiscriminate looting, I bolted for the front door and sprinted to my faithful Chevrolet steed, lighting up the tires in a hasty, cliche’d departure as the shining chrome grill of the white truck glinted in my rear view mirror rounding the turn from the steep driveway less than a half a block behind ...the fortuitous lull in traffic at the intersection provided an ample window for me to jump on the main road and slam the accelerator to the floor forcing the powerful V-8 to lunge forward in a surge of unbridled exaltation...several darting mirror checks could not locate the pursuing pickup and I even mad a few fast head checks to be sure but there was no sign of Pale Horse to be found ...in retrospection I couldn’t resist citing the symbolic equation of my metaphoric Guardian Angel descending from above in a giant white pick-up to chase me out of that house on the hill...

The other house that I tracked down acting on a tip was even more dilapidated and in a state of perpetual collapse...rumor has it that shadowy figures milling around outside on front stoop, faint laughter and odd lights were spotted shining from the interior in the middle of the night and the vigilant neighbors would never be able to catch anyone inside or nearby...and based on it’s current state of structural instability that I observed, the thick overgrowth, boarded rear windows, and general inaccessibility, I find it highly unlikely the lights were in realty; mischievous neighborhood kids exploring the old spooky house ...a litany of complaints and concern over a certain group of incorrigible local hooligans placed them at the top of the neighboring resident’s list as the culprits for the disturbances reported there considering that one of these hardened young delinquents had in the past committed the unconscionable act of riding his bicycle through his back yard (gasp )...A carefully plotted climb over everything (including a kitchen sink) from a bathtub, wooden cabinets, old tires, pallets and other miscellaneous debris permitted me a glimpse through the darkened front window and aside from a haphazard stack of old mattresses, boxed junk and assorted end tables, what I did notice was that the dust on the inside was extremely thick and undisturbed thus lessening the likelihood of the anomalous lights being the surreptitious shenanigans perpetrated by flashlight wielding whelps as theorized by the 2 sets of adjacent neighbors I interviewed ...the rear of the house is completely overgrown and borders a vacant lot that incidentally ends at the rear of a small cemetery and church...pushing my way through a small opening in the thorned thicket to try a photo of a small window that looked to be nailed shut, covered from within and undisturbed proved to only further confirm my doubts that the anomalous night lights spotted by several witnesses were resultant of young explorers on yet another nocturnal adventure...as I backed out of the thatch heavy patch and admired the new scratches running up the length of both forearms while I surgically extracted the burrs now embedded in my shoelaces, I suddenly heard dogs barking off in the distance and many dogs at that ...I imagined some old codger running behind a leashed team of bloodhounds searching for some lost hikers or worse; a suspicious, unadvised neighbor “releasing the hounds to chase away them trespassers”...the barking became louder and more frenzied as I rounded the front of the house and once again darted for the car ...I expected my protégée to be semi panicked and already in the car waving at me to get in but seemed startled by my harried demeanor as I reached the front yard were she was nonchalantly admiring a twisted old oak tree ...I realized then that I no longer heard the dogs and she claimed to have heard nothing ( we left anyway ) ...

Another location that I considered a prospect for exploration was again related by word of mouth and involved an old building that was a combination antiques mall and storage facility...
reports of a full blown apparition milling about the store after hours has been reported by several witnesses (leaving a nearby drinking establishment) but the store owners themselves have complained of certain objects constantly falling from shelves or tables regardless of the concerted efforts made to keep them stationary or even locate them to different tables, shelves or display cases ... I have not examined all of those photos yet either but again found myself enamored by the efforts made to preserved this area’s small town charm while the economically unaffected continuing growth of this region threatens this main street economy with obsolescence in the face of progress....

There was an new (old) Baptist Church/Cemetery added to the itinerary this time around and was well worth the added travel as I did in fact capture some very “interesting” night photos there ...there has been mention on the net of supernatural activity associated with this location but I have elected to not name the site keeping with policy when I venture out of my own realm to visit less known or unknown locations nationally ...the progressive additions and remodeling projects over the years did not seem to detract from quaintness of the church and grounds ... the old original church stands in it’s revered pristine state and even looked to be the recent recipient of a fresh coat of white paint ...the cemetery is very old and many of the monuments closest to the buildings either collapsed or are partially disintegrated ...one of the more recent new additions looked almost like a residence or perhaps retreat housing and is literally mere feet from the closest tombstone in the rear of the structure ...the cool, jeweled full moon peeking over the pine line where the property ends provided an added combined element of preternatural glow to the already strange jaded emerald colored streetlight that stood at the cemeteries edge...as I made my way over the small incline to the bordering shrubbery that separates the church from what looked to be the large backyard of a private residence, I was stopped in my tracks by a horrible moaning ”ooooooooooooooooooohhhhh”...then a second time “oooooooooooooooohhhhhhh”
it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was being “punked” by a valiant effort made by some kids in the yard next door that must have noticed the occasional intermittent shots I was taking with a flash and decided to try and spook us...I have to compliment the youngster making the moaning sounds as he exhibited almost operatic vibrato skills in the effort ...

I was fortunate enough to make it to one return site with an encroaching thunderstorm rolling in from the west and could almost taste the ionic static charge in the air...the base photos alone from that afternoon are quite amazing really and I plan to afford all of the data collected from this trip extensive examination as some of my recent evidential analysis has been either hastened or distracted, but I have recently pledged to shift my focus back to the research and study of the sites from this trip or the ones I will be exploring in the future and the data acquired ...I will no longer permit myself deviation from my objectives regardless of the morbid fascination I occasionally entertain with the devolution of certain elements of the paranormal community ....b


Here are the unedited (compressed to 1 MB) photos from Road Trip 2010 (389 total)....b
http://s890.photobucket.com/albums/ac105/HalfhandParanormalChicago/...








































































































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Here are the Halfhand Nation Driveby Tours videos I have been experimenting with ...they may also conclude my informal coverage of Queen Of Heaven, Mt Carmel, St James and Resurrection (Mary) Cemetery although I plan on returning to The Willow Brook Ballroom in the fall ....b

Halfhand Nation Driveby Tours Part 1: Haunted Archer Avenue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L04lMVpt3A4

Halfhand Nation Driveby Tours Part 2: Haunted Queen of Heaven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmLcKdA4rw4&feature=related


Halfhand Nation Driveby Tours 3-Mt Carmel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km6m3BkOrnw

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