What We've Lost

This video was posted on Andrew Sullivan today: Abandoned Six Flags NOLA. Understandably, it is incredibly creepy and sad.

There has always been something about abandoned things that fascinate me and break my heart. Be it houses, towns, amusement parks or buildings, I find that they bring so many questions. Once upon a time, for some reason, this place existed. Someone built it, wanted it, loved it. And now it's been left to the ravages of time. Memories exist there and when the structures are gone, only the memories will be left, which fade over time. It's one of the reasons I love old houses. They have a life, a story. And if you can bring the house back to life, maybe you can bring back the story as well.

I have spent countless hours on wikipedia over the years, following links from this entry to that one. I even edit on occasion. But the entries that are the most interesting usually fall in the abandoned structure genre. I can not tell you how long I have looked at or searched for pictures of former amusements parks that have been left to rot. History is just sitting there on the side of the road, generally ignored for whatever reason. Interests change and the way we spend out time changes, but are we losing something when we let our history die?

Also, the sense that people where there, living their lives, and something made the left is rather haunting. There was an old school in the town I lived in as a teenager that was no longer in use. My sister played soccer in the fields next to it and the drama departments stored sets and props there. Because of the latter, I was able to go poking around on a somewhat regular basis. The desks were all wood, as were walls and floors, and the classrooms clearly predated white boards. In several classrooms, lessons where still written on the chalkboard, however many years later. The place fascinated me. They tore it down eventually, after I left I think. But it's something I've never forgotten and when I'm home and I drive past the location, it feels like we've lost something.

In the end, I think it's the lack of appreciation for old things and old ways that gets to me. As we've improved as a society and made advancements, I wonder to what we've lost. For every step we take forward in one area, do we lose advantages in others? The eternal question for me, I suppose, since it's once we can never have a true answer to. But it will stick with me nonetheless.