Coulda pulled this song right out of my past. I grew up in a 120 year old farmhouse with a fieldstone basement on a very small road that was originally a cow path. The farmer’s last name was Kelly and

Three Tall Pines - Stone Walls via @YouTube

The path was known as Kelly’s cow path which later became Kelly Place when they paved it. There was a broke down barn and a stable across the way that are now condo units. We would feed the horses apples and sugar cubes in the nice weather months.

Our neighbor, a kind old man named Mr. Engle, lived next door and was always friendly. He passed away before I was in junior high, unfortunately, but I’d always wave and he would chat with my parents.

All the fields are developed. The person who bought our house razed it to put in a business but nothings been built there for about 15 years. Maybe 20 now, jeez time flies. It’s just a flat empty lot with a wooden retaining wall my dad and grandpa built in the back,

those 4 by 4’s and railroad spikes have held up pretty damn well. The birch tree I planted with my mom is gone. We saved a couple things from the yard when my dad was driving by and saw the construction equipment show up after we moved out.

I remember the day we moved. The house looked so empty and small. It was barren, like its life was extinguished. It never seemed “old” when I lived in it, but the day we finally left it seemed like it aged 100 years when we parted ways.

It’s just weird to go by the place now. I used to mow the lawn - I learned to start a mower that didn’t want want to turn over. I learned to ride a bike on that cow path. I learned falling out of trees is way less fun than climbing them (Mr. Engle had unbelievably excellent

trees for climbing, and he never minded). We laid sod. We built a garage. We built a deck. Much more my dad and grandpa than me but I “helped.” We shot woodchucks before the little bastards made burrows around the house and the basement flooded. Played catch with my dad

All sorts of fun memories, and if you went by that place you’d never know anyone was ever there. The trees I climbed as high as I dared were taken down. The driveway we shoveled is just a meadow. There’s a stoplight now down the road! A stop light! Never used to be that busy

Ah well. Time marches on. /end