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#the rust belt
prairiedeath · 1 year
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degenderates · 2 months
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City Church of Gary, Indiana (Dec. 2023)
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ashtrayfloors · 6 months
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Ode to Milwaukee
I want nothing but the empty street
and the wind between buildings, high rise lofts
& cattle lines of twee women at the doorway
to that club down on third street
that everybody hates but they still make enough money to keep
their doors open for a while, it looked bleak for all of us.
I want to go back to the Sydney HIH building
or the razed tanneries that flanked the river.
I want to eat at the closed restaurants my grandparents loved
before steakhouses grew windows in their secret dining rooms.
I want to be blue in a red state and be red with anger
at the dismal array of segregated neighborhoods, blunt racism that
nobody talks enough about, the city feels its weight,
while the people wait quietly for something to change and know—
to have hope is to have lost.
I want to know everything and fear nothing
in the gathering place, by the water, watching ships come in,
busses ship out, train tracks barren outside of Walker's Point,
take a dining car from tavern to tavern, or out of town—
the beginning and the end of the rust belt
is here.
—Sam Pekarske, from Return to the Gathering Place of the Waters (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2017)
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Every once in a while, you get a break in the urbanism. The hustle dies down and you get a little reminder of what's outside the concrete jungle, even if you're still standing in one.
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My usual walk home from work has, lately, gone dark about halfway through, due to a nearby demolition project of an old building, one I considered a local yet moreso personal landmark.
My late mother and I used to cast our rust-belt eyes towards this old factory, now abandoned, and now, also destoyed, whenever we wanted to enjoy our aging city's skyline. It had two exhaust towers with the Goodrich Company branding down the side, and in my memories, I can hear my mother say "Hey look at the Goodrich towers in the sunrise" clear as a bell. They're gone now, all three of them, and I can't deny the absence of this rotted old, frankly smelly, building is leaving. It minorly triggers me walking past it in the dark now.
But last night was something different. The dark brought something new.
I was always a night owl, something I also attribute to my mother (long story, another time perhaps). The night always brought a sense of peace, quiet, safety, and calm for my neurodivergent skull. Lately, it hasn't, in my grief, but the other night..
The air was alive.
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You can't see anything here, but this was incredible. There's the Ohio & Erie Canal, which runs alongside this path, which means that there's a large amount of freshwater life that frequents here. Ducks, herons, freshwater fish, canadian geese (the bastards) etc. I even saw a turtle once, paddling along looking for fish and bugs to snack on. Usually, they're quiet. The encroachment of people keeps them cautious. But last night, in the dark, they were practically buzzing the sky. There was juuuust enough human civilization nearby that they weren't concerned about predators, but not so much they ended up cautious of the people.
As I rounded the bend on this path, which has been lined with blooming decorative trees, I felt a small brush on my shoulder as a few petals fell. I wanted to show my mom this path, but she passed before she was well enough for me to take her. I feel like she was there, in that petal. I didn't see it fall, or land, but I felt the touch. It was warm again, finally. My only regret here in that moment, was that I couldn't take her to see the towers up close with me, although I know she wouldn't have been super down with the smell, hahaha.
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The final photo I took in this walk that night was the creepily looming last building to be demolished. She's a wreck, but damn does she look stunning in that light. Like a horror novel cover. It was jeujed up with graffiti for a while, which I know is part of the reason she's getting demolished (this part of the path runs close to a more upscale public park), but even in the dark, she cut a hell of a figure. It will be a shame to see it go. I don't know what will be here later, and I hope it's not more ultra-sleek gentrified businesses, but for now, this was striking. For the first time in a good while, I enjoyed being in the dim still again.
This is ultimately an excuse to post cute pictures I took, but the more I tumbled this post in my head, the more this stuff spilled out. Sorry if I put anyone off with my sad musings, but find peace in your shade when you can everyone. You'll be surprised in what you can find when the city turns off for a bit.
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camojacketfag · 6 months
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amidst the rust belt
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mapsontheweb · 4 months
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Rust belt of the United States
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violetmagician · 3 months
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Normal midwestern highway sightings
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photoshamanism · 6 months
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Postcards from my Twilight Zone
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the-gone-ton · 1 month
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Sorry! Mall Currently Closed.
Food Court at Pittsburgh Mills, 2023
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rustbeltjessie · 22 days
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I love how weird shadows get during a solar eclipse.
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prairiedeath · 1 year
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sherman cahal
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degenderates · 2 months
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I love a bookstore cat!
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lisboncore · 1 year
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cecilialisbon · 6 months
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The decay of autumn on the shores of Lake Erie
11/4/2023
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burlybrawlers · 2 months
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@burlybrawlers
From the Rust Belt series - Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A - 1/3
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