This Day In History: February 4, 2007

Four years ago today, I went to an insane asylum.

King’s Park was abandoned years ago and it’s fun to hike through the spread out ruins that still stand. Kandas and I went with her friend Lilly (finally! A day where I’m not driving!), who I’m sad to say I only have rearview mirror photographs of her eyebrow. She is a wonderful human being.

We had to bundle up because it was so cooooold in the… LI. Windy, windy, windy.

But it was fascinating walking around the grounds, peering through the shattered windows into the mess within the walls. There were still remnants of things once used,  now so tattered and destroyed they are nearly impossible to identify. My mind was constantly comparing what stood in front of me to pictures of Chernobyl and the untouched beauty within a city that has sat neglected for decades.

Of course, being somewhere so fascinating, my camera wouldn’t work because it was so bitterly cold and this is the only photograph I was able to take before it died completely for the day.

I expect one day I will return with more pictures. As amazing as the trip was, my favorite part was stopping at the gas station and having someone outside fill up the tank. Kandas and Lilly made fun of me a little bit for wanting to go out to do it myself or at least give the guy a tip, but hey, we don’t have fancy stuff like that in Michigan.

I think this was also the day we stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts and one of the other customers in line asked me where I got my Game Boy bag that I use to carry my wallet and pocket camera. When I told him I’m from Michigan and bought it at a local thrift shop, his response was, “Oh yeah? My brother lives in Livonia! Ever heard of Livonia?” It made me laugh since my dad has lived in Livonia for ten years, proving that even when you take the girl out of the Mitten, it will always know where I am and follow me relentlessly.