Historical societies are abuzz with restoration projects preserving pieces of our past. Their noble pursuits favor those hundreds of years from now enjoying the storied pasts whose memories dwell within. A bit less noble, yet still quite real, are the ambitions of being immortally remembered.
While some of us have a hard time assigning personal worth to objects, we can assign emotional value to both things and places when we remember our interactions with them. We go to a place we have seen before, but never known of our own accord. After a (wonderful, poignant, dreadful) time, we pass before it thereafter with a nostalgic look, a wry smirk or a look of disgust.
Just Bricks and Mortar
The longer a building stands, the more varied the reactions to it become. Even buildings which only serve one purpose will elicit differing opinions.
Those multipurpose buildings which host a variety of events draw the most diverse reactions. Recital halls are fantastic memory settings for concert goers, but the overflow of the music can make the cube farmers next door want to design better soundproofing.
People who have never been inside the buildings are touched by their association with those who have or those who brought the building into existence. Every day, people the world over are willing to embrace or decry ideas and projects strictly based on the participants and the pitch men.
We often do not hold the same opinion we formed the first time we go somewhere. Ever have a bad experience, but after granting a second chance found out you adored the venue after all?
Town Hall looks into the story of a building built in the days of thatch roofs. It has witnessed many occasions and touched the lives of many people. Let’s take a walk through its history.
…a lowly building…
Town Hall
Over the crest of the hilltop
Is a lowly building.
Two centuries of history
Are stored in its thick walls.
It has played host to the public
And hidden dark secrets.
Stories it would tell if only
We would sit and ask it.
A blushing bride was wed outside
‘Neath maples bowering.
When the sunset fell, the guests came
Inside to drink and dance
Until the sun returned rested,
Though the couple beset
On their honeymoon for hours
Before dawn revealed it.
The rains had come in the springtime,
Brought forth bumper harvests.
The farmers took care to reserve
Stores for the winter frost.
Of what remained much was sold off.
Silos burst at the seams.
The bounty still held was enough
For a festival and feast.
The townsfolk gathered ’round the fires.
Roast sucklings, stags, the best.
Women served their pies and salads
Whilst all the children danced.
The elders smoked pipes, and they sipped
Brandies of sweet spring friuts.
Outside, dogs waited patiently
For morsels, the finest.
Years of good service to people
Did Mayor give the shire.
The snow blanketed the new roof,
A pet project pushed through,
Like so many others before
Proctored in window seats
Overlooking the prim courtyard
With its stately roses.
When came his time to lie in state,
The roses blazed like fire.
The pediment showed fresh white wash
And the oiled plank floor gleamed
Until tears bespeckled the aisle
To pay respect to one
Who believed the legacy of
History never closes.
300520120249
Matt
/ June 4, 2012A beautiful poem on the value of history!
I, myself, believe that we should preserve what we can about the past. Since I was a child, I’ve been a lover of history. As a kid, I remember always carrying my uncle’s history textbook, and reading it over and over again!
It saddens me when I see historical buildings being torn down in the city where we are staying. A few years back, one such historical building was demolished in the downtown area so that a high rise building could take its place! So sad…
Red
/ June 4, 2012Here the tallest building is about four floors, so no high rises, but the buildings are coming down due to neglect. There are quite a few which should be saved. Fortunately, we still have a restoration society which manages to win a few coups and fund the upkeep.
Be sure to check the CommentLuv button. You last post was fab!
Matt
/ June 4, 2012I’m glad you liked our last post, Red… 🙂 Thank you.
I’m now pressing the CommentLuv button… 🙂
Matt recently posted..How I Changed My Life, In Four Lines
Derek Mansker
/ June 4, 2012I visited Battleship Cove once and as I walked through the battleship I thought about all the people who had served there. I wondered what the walls would say if they could talk. Since they can’t, I just kept walking so that I didn’t get too many looks. It is interesting, though.
I notice buildings all the time that I never noticed. Usually it is when someone is doing some renovations on the landscaping or something like that.
Derek Mansker recently posted..Camping is fun?
Red
/ June 4, 2012Every time I am on a ship (all of them, destroyers, battleships, carriers, subs) I think about all those who have lived on them. I have been on many active boats and far fewer museums. The one I have not been inside is a NASA ship. Fortunately, we are going to rectify that singular oversight this summer.
Occasionally, walls do talk. You just have to know what to look for…
MJ Logan
/ June 5, 2012At the Watergate Hotel, the walls did talk according to at least one joke. Or was it fact? Or…
We found a small log cabin once, not quite falling down, not in any kind of repair, with an old stone fireplace. The roof had thick, split cedar shingles. We often went there and made small fires in the fireplace, sat on boat cushions and talked and drank late into the night. We often wondered, who built this place? How did they come there and where did they go. Our imaginations soared in that place, and we often speculated about the people who had lived there.
Later, after we moved away, the cabin was discovered by someone else and research led the county historical society to learn the cabin was built by the very first settlers in that county. It is fixed up now, preserved and no one builds fires in the fireplace anymore.
I wonder if the walls still talk.
MJ Logan recently posted..Feeling the Need for Speed
Red
/ June 5, 2012We found a place on one of our hunting leases which the last residents were there in 1963…we found it in 1980. The calendar on the wall was showing June 20…the days were x’ed off. We had similar discussions about it. Deep in the woods (at least two miles from the roadway). Very cool you found a piece of history and became part of the story.
Valentine Logar
/ June 5, 2012I don’t know which I love more, your intro the poem itself or the ad (metal buildings) 😉
I do love the poem, it is light, nostalgic and yet touches on our passages through life. I love old buildings (thus my love affair with Europe). Love castles, cathedrals and crooked alleys with ancient apartments (Venice is one of my favorites).
Valentine Logar recently posted..History isn’t Mutable, But we are
Red
/ June 5, 2012Oh, that is rich! I have seen some really good ads here recently. When I first proofed that one, there were ads for steel buildings and landscaping. Gotta love it. Glad you liked the poem. This one was the interrupted one (when I forgot Mantra’s notebook at the hospital). There is enough I cut out of this one to probably spawn two more poems. It was fun.
prenin
/ June 5, 2012Given my history there are many things and places I’d rather forget! 🙁
Memories remain, both good and bad.
The best were when I took my neighbours kids to the cinema and we had a great time, carrying my God daughter Becky home to her bed and kissing her and her sister Emily goodnight, kids I looked after from birth.
Not all memories are bad and some of the best were at 217 Oldham Rd. Where I looked after all Pat and Neil’s kids.
Yes, there were good times… 🙂
Love and hugs!
Prenin.
prenin recently posted..Monday – a trip to the Co-Op.
Red
/ June 5, 2012So good to hear of good memories surfacing with this one! {HUGZ} Red.
Soma Mukherjee
/ June 5, 2012oh Red this post is just one of your best,it touched my heart the most,brought back so may memories from my childhood..when we used to live in Itarsi( central India) and my parents would every now and then take us for trekking and nature trails and in those trails we often saw ruins of some old fort or old house which belonged to some big landlord in british era…we would ask people nearby about that place and that would just make my day..and weeks and years too…
every house in fact has a history,even if it is brand new,there is a story behind it,how it was before the house was build or something…
can’t tell you in words how much i loved the poem specially the part where you wrote-
“Two centuries of history
Are stored in its thick walls.
It has played host to the public
And hidden dark secrets.
Stories it would tell if only
We would sit and ask it.”,,the feeling is universal or atleast people who are interested in it would appreciate the words…
you rock sista 🙂
Soma Mukherjee recently posted..Beck and Call by Eric Alagan
Red
/ June 5, 2012This one is one which can touch anyone. All of us have felt the connection to a place at some time. I am so very glad you liked this one, Soma.
MJ Logan
/ June 5, 2012This post is a test of the M3 FB login system. If this were not a test, you would not be reading this comment.
This comment was made with the full knowledge and consent of the blog owner (Red), and specifically at the blog owner’s request.
FB login is working properly and even leaves you on the same page you started out on.
Please do not confuse FB login with FBI login, which is an entirely different matter.
This test is complete.
MJ the tester.
MJ Logan recently posted..Feeling the Need for Speed
Red
/ June 5, 2012Absolutely excellent! I was hoping the tweaking would do the trick. Still tweaking the FBI login. For some reason, they frown on my repeated attempts and send me to login time out for four hours. Thank you!
Barb
/ June 5, 2012I love old buildings and keep wondering , “If these walls could talk.” You’ve captured the thought beautifully.
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Red
/ June 5, 2012Glad you liked this one. Good to see you today, Barb!
Raymond Alexander Kukkee
/ June 5, 2012Red, I really liked this poem, it speaks to me of the past–and places I’ve seen. No one can imagine the hard work that went into some of these places, but in our daily trek to the typical corner office, we seldom notice them.
I, on the other hand, on daily treks or not, pay attention to old buildings, for they have much to offer in character, in memories, and in absolute class-a reminder of a hard-working, more stable society.
I would trade the modern alien corner office into an old-fashioned heritage corner office building any time, I would not mind at all… “:)
Raymond Alexander Kukkee recently posted..Mother Nature is BOSS
My Inner Chick
/ June 6, 2012**To pay respect to one
Who believed the legacy of
History never closes.**
Beeeeeeeautiful, Red. Xxx
My Inner Chick recently posted..Poetry, Jimmy Choos, & False Eyelashes
Red
/ June 8, 2012Thank you, Kim! Glad you liked this one. xxx