Ghosts and Memories

We went to a local apple orchard to get some cider and pumpkins because it is fall and fall is all about cider and pumpkins. Well maybe some other things as well but, in certain parts of the country, it is all about the cider and apple orchards.

This is a place that has really grown since our first visit so many years ago. They’ve kind of become a destination in the fall and on Saturdays, the place is a zoo. This year, they decided to keep the grill open during the week so we were there on Friday and it was still crowded. Once we get past Halloween and nobody wants to pick pumpkins, the crowds will die back but it is nice to see them doing so well.

On the way there, we drive by a house where a retired couple used to have pumpkins. They called it their grand kids college fund and even had an honor box out if you stopped by when they weren’t there. We did this for a few years and then the sign went away and never came back.

The house still stands but it is empty with no sign of life. The small fields that use to be full of pumpkins are still there but being taken over by grasses and weeds. I would assume someone will eventually put the land to use and the fact that it was a pumpkin patch will be lost to history.

There are times when I wish things never changed but that is just not an option.

This weekend, we wanted to have dinner at a certain restaurant. It was funny, but on the way there I was wondering if it was actually still open. Spoiler alert – it was not. The letters had all been pried off the building and there was a for sale sign in the lot. This happens from time to time because there are places we don’t get too all that often and places we like sometimes vanish in the night.

With a restaurant, you do sometimes get that death vibe. Like when it isn’t particularly busy on a night when it should be. Or when the workers are just going through the motions. Some combination of things that leaves a strong impression that the place is on its last legs.

I suppose the building will end up being occupied by another restaurant for some undetermined length of time. It got me to thinking about all the places we used to go that are no longer in existence. Even when the buildings become something else, do they retain the ghosts of what they used to be? There is one place that is now a car parts shop. Weird to think that people are buying parts where they used to cook and serve food.

I guess I’m just at an age where so much has changed that my mind just naturally drifts back to things that used to be and no longer are. Even the restaurants that ended up going downhill started off as a dream and most of them were good for a bit. Guess some dreams really don’t come true.