“We’re all messy. We’re all struggling. We are all flying high in some ways and falling flat on our faces in others. Nobody has it all figured out. It’s our job to cheer each other on, lift each other up, and push each other to keep giving it our best. It matters who we surround ourselves with… We need to be better to each other. We’re all we have.” ~ Amy Weatherly
There’s a small building at the mouth of Stacy Fork. It was a small country store when I was young. It sat empty for a while, then they turned it into a house. Looks like someone set it on fire, so of course, I was intrigued and stopped for a few shots after cemetery decoration. You can see where the fire burned the hottest, and how it spread through the ceiling. Caney Valley has a good volunteer fire department and I’m sure it’s to their credit that anything is left at all, though it looks a total loss to my untrained eyes. It’s always a pity to see old buildings destroyed like this. There aren’t many old country stores left, even if they have been converted into homes. It’s still indicative of the kind of vernacular architecture we have in the mountains, and you can see from the remains that it was built old-wood sturdy, though it must have been cold as the dickens in winter because I see no insulation to speak of. I hope the occupants got out safely (I’m pretty sure they did), and if it was arson, I hope they catch ’em.
An interesting study I read just last week posited the standards for building materials today are much more toxic than those used in older buildings (asbestos siding above notwithstanding). Today’s building codes require more plastics and chemically treated materials. As a result, many more people now survive the actual fire, but they end up in hospital with toxic smoke inhalation that causes a host of problems, including death. The things we do in the name of progress. I wonder how much progress is really being made. Give me the old houses and the old ways of building.
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