A favourite old house, Alberta

This photo was uploaded to Flickr on 18 October 2019.

Two days ago, on 16 October 2019, I really did luck out with the weather. Knowing that I am running out of time before the next snowfall happens - we've already had two, one in September and one so far this month - I reckoned it was now or not to make another long drive. The place I wanted to see again was way NE of the city. I had been there only once before, on 29 September 2014, and that was just a brief visit. My daughter and I had arrived there around 4:00 pm after a long day, and I wanted to get back home before it got dark (out of luck), because of poor night vision. Also, having spent the day at two other places plus lots of driving, I was in too much pain to walk around Rowley. I was determined to see everything this visit.

After leaving home at 9:15 am, it took me almost four hours to get there, as I kept stopping to take photos of the clouds and any old barns that I came across. On the return journey, I think I only stopped once and that was to take a few zoomed-in (Focal Length (35mm format) - 1600 mm) photos of a favourite old house. It is so far away, surrounded by rolling hills, that it is barely noticeable. There had been no obvious change over the last five years, which was good to see. It is so decayed that one can't help but wonder how much longer it will remain standing. I could have posted the original image, but I decided to add a touch of filter in post-processing, to bring out a bit more detail. The first time I saw this old house was on 18 July 2016, when my daughter and I did a bit of exploring NE of Calgary. Then, on 17 September 2017, after noticing snowflake icons in the weather forecast for Calgary, I decided I would do a similar drive, but not quite as far this time. It was nice to see it again two days ago.

There is very little information about this house to be found on the Internet, but I will add links to several things I did find, for my own memory and just in case anyone else is interested in the history of this place. So sad to see any old house, barn or shed fall into such decay.

"All that remains of this farm is the house. No barn, no outbuildings, no evidence of either, just the grass, the coulee, the wind, and little else and this fine old dwelling.

Built around 1911, the two story house belonged to the Laing Family, Thomas and Rose and their children. They raised cattle and horses – these coulees and river valleys are great for gazing and are still used as such today – and farmed a little on the flatter land above.

The family moved out of the house just after World War One, first settling in the Okanagan region of BC and later in High River Alberta, only to return to the farm in the mid-1920s. The house was rented out while they were gone. Fast forward to the 1970s, the eldest Laings have passed on and the farm and associated land sold. It appears at this time, or shortly thereafter, the building ceased to be lived in." From bigdoer.

www.bigdoer.com/22257/exploring-history/laing-house-frien.... Lots of great images.

www.pbase.com/impalass/image/110826402. Great photos by Mike Stobbs.

www.youtube.com/user/asecondaryhighway Click on A Secondary Highway: The Abandoned House. Just shows the inside of the house.

On the drive to my destination, I called in at a small village/hamlet that I had been to with my daughter back in 2014. There was an old building there that was easily photographed from the road, which is what my daughter and I had done. However, for once, I actually knocked on the owner's door and asked if it was OK to photograph her old grain elevator, meaning from the road. However, she very kindly told me to go over to it and take any photos I wanted. This grain elevator is a different style from what one usually thinks of, when 'grain elevator' is mentioned. I like it, and it is quite a fine building.

I am so glad I finally made myself do this drive, despite feeling sick to the stomach at the thought of driving so many kilometres that were unknown to me. Thankfully, I made it without getting lost, without running out of gas, and arriving home at 5:45 pm before it started getting dark. A great day!