“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
-Anne Frank
I love that quote. I love that nature can be a remedy and a way to connect with the One who created it!
And speaking of the great outdoors, how do I not remember Cottonwood County, Minnesota? I lived two counties over for 18 years of my life.
Probably had something to do with the fact that I had my sights enthusiastically set on the South by the time I hit middle school. I could hardly wait to experience life elsewhere. I made an eight year detour to Los Angeles in my 20s, but looking back now, how I wish I had explored Minnesota more before I hightailed it outta there back then!
Anywho, back to Cottonwood County.
There’s a fella named Ryan Ware who takes the neatest pictures of Southern Minnesota and his latest blog post had me wishing I could hop right through the screen. He found a lonely, old house that must have been so pretty back in the day…
(Photo: Ryan Ware)
(Photo: Ryan Ware)
(Photo: Ryan Ware)
You better believe I flew all over Google Maps satellite view to try to find that baby too. Felt like I just had to see where it sits. How far is it from my Dad’s house? How far is it from my Uncle’s house? I don’t know why. It’s just something I always do. Of course, I’d be scared to death to actually go inside the house if I had the chance to visit it, but man does it make me curious. Who designed it? (It’s so unique!) Who does it belong to? When is the last time someone lived there? Why was it abandoned? Is it salvageable? Probably not, but man that would be neat. Looks like such a sweet little plot of land the house sits on too. I love the way the driveway curls around the corn to it.
Turns out, Cottonwood County has waterfalls too:
(Photo: Jim Kallinen)
That’s the shorter one at Red Rock Dells. Just looking at it makes me want to kick off my shoes!
I love it when the Earth surprises us with peeks into the past like that. I mean, you saw the land in the photos of that old house, right? Gentle slopes here and there, but for the most part, and as you can see in the photo of Cottonwood County below, acre after acre of flat farmland.
Then, BOOM. Right where that red marker is…THIS:
(Photo: Jeff Williams)
Such an unexpected “hiccup” in the landscape there!
Such a unique opportunity to travel down a gravel road and see what 1.6 billion year old Sioux Quartzite looks like. A recent visitor said this about driving out to find it, “there are very few trees except for near farm places, only a few gently rolling hills. A sign next to the road near a “hill” says Red Rock Dells Park. Nearby a picnic shelter and a few trees give no indication of the wonders nearby.”
Makes me curious what kind of natural wonders I could find right here in Pike Road, Alabama if I just did a little more exploring.
I’ll keep you posted… 😉
Layla
PS- There are more photos of the old house on Ryan’s blog if you’d like to see!
I love your Thoughtful Thursday posts.
Love this post. I really enjoy old farm homes. Wish I had about 3-5 acres of rolling land and a creek with a gorgeous old farmhouse sitting right in the middle of it. Thanks for a peek at this old home and land.
Oh my gosh I want to see inside!!!!
I love exploring old homes (my husband calls it trespassing – whatever!).
The roof is still in really good shape, it might not be past being able to restore.
Would be amazing for someone to restore that old house! Such a cool shape and roof line!!!Wonder how the inside looks.
I think you should buy it and renovate! It’d be gorgeous!!
Wow I love that old house I would love to see the inside. You should definitely find it and take pictures of the inside for us. 😘
I love this little treasure!!!!! I’m that person (that person that hates to fly and is not fond of elevators, & is pretty much a scaredy cat) that will turn off the main route to drive down a long lonely dirt road to snap a pic of something like this!! I have my favorites that I just pull over, sit and stare at and wonder what all it would say if it could tell us of the stories of years gone by. I bet that would be something! Thank you for sharing this beauty with us!!
Back when we were looking for property to build a house on, my husband and I would take random country roads and explore for hours around the area we wanted to live. It was fun and relaxing (but not very productive) to see the homesteads in the back areas. I now sit with google maps and explore all over the globe, to see places I will never in my lifetime get to visit. We have a few of those old houses like the one you found, and I would love to stop and explore them…..do you think I would get arrested?