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08/12/2004: "Every day is silent and grey..."

So much of Detroit is absolutely beautiful if you look at it beyond the dirty facade.

Many times I've driven on 94 around Chene where a few large houses still sit in various states of decay. While it happens more often in the winter (when a thick fluffy white layer of snow seems to make absolutely everything beautiful) the other day I glanced over and was just blown away by the beauty that still exists. Huge old trees, vines trying to stake their claim for existence, and the remains of grand houses. The distance from the freeway to these houses likely covers a large number of their imperfections, but from that distance, the huge pillars on the front porch look like the sparkling, freshly painted entrance that they must have looked like at one time.

I wonder if anyone who used to live in these houses is still around? Even if they were a child when they left, do they still drive by the houses every now and then and think "that's the tree I used to hide behind?" or "that's the porch where I sat on my grandmothers lap while she read to me?". Do they wonder why the current (or more recent past) owners seem to have no sense of history? Do they get sad seeing the houses that were once full of life decay into eventual ruins?

It makes me sad, but I probably am not someone who would be able to judge "normal" when it comes to history, even if it's not my own history.