I knew change was afoot when I saw shiny new fence posts–an unusual spring flower in these parts–sprouting in the empty lot beside my favorite abandoned factory on April 21st. If you’re a longtime reader of Hoarded Ordinaries, you’ve seen many pictures of this abandoned and decrepit factory on Water Street here in Keene. I think it’s fair to say that I’m obsessed with this factory and the empty brownfield that sits beside it. Over the several years I’ve lived in Keene, I’ve watched that brownfield turn yellow with goldenrod in the summertime while tendrils of Virginia creeper clinging to old brick turn crimson in the fall. Last summer, the empty lot next to “my” factory–a lot the dog and I often cut through on our walks into town–served as a parking lot for bulldozers while workers installed new sewer lines on Water Street. And last October, this same empty lot served as a parking lot for out-of-state campaign volunteers who canvassed local neighborhoods in the name of their favorite presidential candidates. After observing in every season, weather, and mood this abandoned factory and the seemingly lifeless brownfield that neighbors it, I can say with confidence that there’s a lot going on here…a lot, that is, if you slow down to look and if you watch over time, tracking the subtle changes only an observant neighbor would notice.
You didn’t have to be very observant, though, to notice that by April 24th, a major change was in the works: a chain-link fence where there hadn’t been fence before:
And if a chain-link fence weren’t obvious enough, by April 30th, a gate and padlocked chain had been added: guarantee that local dog-walking bloggers won’t be cutting through here anymore:
I’ve yet to determine what sort of plan is afoot here at my formerly favorite pedestrian short-cut…the craver-of-mysteries in me prefers to see this plan and its fruit reveal itself gradually, a kind of temporal strip-tease in which The Answer appears slowly and seductively. Part of me is happy that this brownfield is being reclaimed; another part is jealous and protective, hoping that workers treat “my” field with tender care while wondering what will happen to the buried seeds of last summer’s goldenrods when they discover a new parking lot or building plunked down on their embryonic heads. I trust that Answers, like sprouting goldenrods, will appear in due time. In the meantime, the dog and I will walk around, finding other ways of short-cutting into town. After all, change is afoot, and so is one local dog-walking blogger.
Hoarded Ordinaries 
May 3, 2005 at 7:45 am
“…what will happen to the buried seeds of last summer’s goldenrods when they discover a new parking lot or building plunked down on their embryonic heads.”
Thats such a sad thing to think about- seeds that will never sprout. Never see the light of the sun.
-Dan
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May 3, 2005 at 8:42 am
Territoriality is tough on dog-walkers. Native Americans, who primarily honored the seeds of nature, shared your mystification when fences started appearing all across the West. Let’s hope your mystery turns out to be progress, as you would define it.
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May 3, 2005 at 11:27 am
It’s gonna be a Starbucks.
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May 3, 2005 at 7:04 pm
My spouse loves saying something ” …is afoot” because then I always look down at my feet quizzically.
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May 4, 2005 at 11:54 am
Dan, it *is* sad to think of all those ill-fated goldenrod seeds…and yet, goldenrods produce *millions* of seeds, and most of them die. So it’s all part of the larger plan: if you broadcast lots of seeds, some will germinate & some will die. But from the perspective of any one seed, it’s sad to be one of the majority that “fails.”
Carol Gee, one of my favorite Thoreau essays is “Walking,” where he rails against fences (no pun intended) even though as a surveyor, he helped people mark property claims that would ultimately be fenced. I guess the ultimate kind of fence is our heart’s desire to cling to our notion of I/Me/My, and *that’s* a kind of fence-building we *all* do to a certain extent.
Will, we already got a Starbucks last year…they reclaimed an old Taco Bell that had gone out of business years ago. So far, that single Starbucks seems to be doing well….
Joan, methinks you have a fondness for awful puns! 🙂
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May 5, 2005 at 5:54 am
hiya!
Please keep us updated as to what it becomes! I don’t like it when you see an area that you’ve grown to love going through a development. My first boarding school, that used to be an old house during the world wars, was such a wonderful building, and even though it was school (ick!!) it holds many great memories. Only now they have knocked down this 100+ year old building to make way for new no-character ickey houses! booo
hope all is well with you
take care
rach
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May 5, 2005 at 9:15 am
Hi, Rach–great as always to hear from you! 🙂
I’ll keep everyone informed on the progress of “my” empty lot. So far, they haven’t touched the abandoned factory right next to it. The factory is a mess with broken windows & graffiti…but I still love to *look* at it & will be sad when someone cleans it up into something “proper.”
Last summer work crews tore up a stretch of ground down the street from this lot, and I blogged that process. In that case, the city put up public basketball courts, which I thought was a fine use of the space. I’m wondering if this field will become a parking lot…
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