Ghost of the Confederacy

On March 30, 2014 my friend Matt and I discovered an abandoned house filled with weirdness and mystery in Parrish, Florida.

It also contained not-yet photographs of marvelous objects.

We found it weird not just because of these objects. Like a single wooden crutch leaning against the wall. Had the owner thought he only needed one? It’s obviously very old. You don’t see many wooden crutches anymore, just aluminum ones.

There was a book about magic, with the pages opened to a section on casting spells. The house owner must have found this far more exciting than an old Jacqueline Suzanne  novel. As my friend Marty asked, “why was the last thing they read an instruction on casting spells?”

Matt found an old piano to photograph, one missing its keys like some people end up missing teeth.

What was weirder was the hurry in which the last inhabitants apparently left. There were intact (but moldy) clothes still in wardrobes, and old pots and utensils. 

But what struck me most was the front window’s dark valence, lacey curtains, and wall sconces. They seem to be from an earlier time, maybe even that of the antebellum south.

You’ll see this window in the video below. I was inspired by the current kerfuffle about Confederate symbols. This topic’s been in the news a lot lately, particularly concerning the removal of monuments commemorating those hapless soldiers.

So it’s time to confront that old fracas again. I thought of the house and imagined what would’ve happened had I’d discovered a Confederate ghost in it. 

You’ll find out in this one-minute parallax photo animation.