It's been a long time....

 Today was the first day of my vacation.  It's been a

long, few months and it seemed like a good time to take

some days off.  I woke up this morning and decided to go

see my sister Deatra and her family.  They live roughly

3 hours from me, near Yanceyville, NC.  When I 

arrived, shortly after, my other sister Donna showed

up.  Below is us together again...it's been awhile.

 

Deatra is married and has 2 sons, a step son and

daughter and is expecting another in April.  She's

on the left.  Donna has a son and a daughter...

she's on my right.  Below is a picture of me with

my nephews and my niece.  From left to right:

Jeremey, Wesley, Grayson (all Deatra's) and

Simona (Donna's)

We went to lunch and afterwards decided to

go see the old house we grew up in.  It's located

in Southeast Guilford County...just outside Greensboro.

I personally haven't been in the place in at least 20

years.  My Mom and Step Dad have long since passed

and we haven't had much reason to go back.  The old

house had fallen into other hands and owners and we

had always heard of it's dismal condition....but I

have always wanted to go back regardless.

We got there around 5 pm.  The yard had actually

been cleared (it used to to be too grown over to see

the house) and lucky for us, was vacant and the front

door was unlocked.  Below are pictures I took inside...

click to enlarge....

 The stairs up to my old bedroom...

 My old bedroom...notice the short door...

it's only about 4 1/2 feet tall...

 The beams on the vaulted ceilings upstairs...

 A wall in my old bedroom...

 We used to call this room the 'Orange Room'...

not sure why.  It's a small room off of the master

bedroom.  Me and Deatra used to share this room

during very cold nights...

 The front corner of the master bedroom.

 Behind the house, is a hill.  There is a pond at the

bottom.  This is a view from near the pond.

 Me and Deatra used to climb this tree...

 it's in front of the house, to the left.  A lot

bigger now....

 Spent many an hour playing basketball

on this dirt court...

 Another childhood pass time....climbing to the

roof....I still have it!

 Me, Jeremey and Wesley scaling the house as

Deatra watches...

 The old front door....

 Jeremey on top....

Great to see the old place.  It's a shame no one

is really doing anything with it though.  Tons

of trash inside but all it really needs is to be 

cleaned up....that and, I'm sure, a ton of work.

But it's still standing.  Seems to still be solid.

 Was a great way to spend the day....it's been way

too long.

Until next time....