West Lancaster Wander - Felicia’s Place (5 July 06) - part 3
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised. For those of you just seeing this, we first ran into (almost literally) Felicia back in May at another nearby abandoned house. They are a very skittish transient of questionable gender. The other house was only 3 to 4 miles away.
Here’s links to the original site and follow-up:
Part 4: http://jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com/99898.html
Part 5: http://jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com/100297.html
Part 6: http://jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com/100659.html
Seeing another wall covered in pink nail polish writing and noticing a dozen or more empty chocolate milk cartons tucked behind a broken table was still a surprise though. Seeing that one of the ramblings had been signed on the same day we were there was stunning.
This is false color enhanced to be more readable. There were small nooses hanging on the wall in various places in the house. She/He seemed to take great exception to this.
As I wandered back through the house, it became evident that there were several stories at play here. One was the sudden departure of the previous owners, who’s goods and goodies lay everywhere.
A prescription bottle (dated 1999) for Lagunte, Miguel.. Yes, I intentionally blanked out the dosage and drug type.
Americana lost
Into the depths.
This was pitch black and only captured by manually setting the flash and focal range.
The next mystery was certainly more pressing and timely. The question of Felicia.. Who this person is and what is motivating them to live this way still is astonishing.
False color enhanced. Below is detail shots from top left, moving counter clockwise
Top left section
Bottom left section
Right hand section
This was perhaps the most surprising and chilling.. She’d been at this house on the same day we’d been there.. - July 5th. Maybe that year, maybe a year before.. who knows?. By this time, it was very obvious that the house and property were completely empty except for the kids and I, but it was amazing to think. More indications of her presence lay about..
2005 Calendar
I lingered in the house for a moment or two more and heard a faint peeping noise from what had been a laundry alcove. I was rewarded by finding this.
There was a baby bird in the nest
From here, the next stop was the quasi-garage attached to the back of the house. More debris, more indications of life past and decayed..
Since Halloween is approaching, check out the back wall.
Oohhhh, stylish leopard print sneakers
From the garage, I started to head up into the decaying, partially built trailer next to the house. It was in such bad condition that I elected not to attempt it (falling through the floor would have sucked). Instead I wandered towards the barn and captured more images and memories
The Crow
Go towards the light
On the way back over to the car with the kids who I’d allowed to join me, I had to shoot this last image of the ranch’s well-head and tower. Adjacent to this old well was another modern well, covered only with a flimsy piece of plywood.
At this point, I’ve been unable to learn anything about Miguel and Bessie Lagunte, who’s names appeared on the various letters, bills, bank statements and so forth that were scattered around the site. Perhaps a realtor friend of mine might be able to run a title search to see who the current and past owners might be.
As for Felicia, the story continues on. While exploring a series of sites along the roads between Mojave and Ridgecrest last month, I found a brand new house along the roadside. It had been condemned due to improper/substandard building materials (ie. stuff from Mexico). As I photographed this property 35 miles north of Bessie’s place, I found a pair of mattresses (one full sized and one single), empty cartons of chocolate milk a stuffed teddy bear and pink writing on the walls. I’ll have that photo set later this month.
Here’s links to the original site and follow-up:
Part 4: http://jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com/99898.html
Part 5: http://jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com/100297.html
Part 6: http://jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com/100659.html
Seeing another wall covered in pink nail polish writing and noticing a dozen or more empty chocolate milk cartons tucked behind a broken table was still a surprise though. Seeing that one of the ramblings had been signed on the same day we were there was stunning.
This is false color enhanced to be more readable. There were small nooses hanging on the wall in various places in the house. She/He seemed to take great exception to this.
As I wandered back through the house, it became evident that there were several stories at play here. One was the sudden departure of the previous owners, who’s goods and goodies lay everywhere.
A prescription bottle (dated 1999) for Lagunte, Miguel.. Yes, I intentionally blanked out the dosage and drug type.
Americana lost
Into the depths.
This was pitch black and only captured by manually setting the flash and focal range.
The next mystery was certainly more pressing and timely. The question of Felicia.. Who this person is and what is motivating them to live this way still is astonishing.
False color enhanced. Below is detail shots from top left, moving counter clockwise
Top left section
Bottom left section
Right hand section
This was perhaps the most surprising and chilling.. She’d been at this house on the same day we’d been there.. - July 5th. Maybe that year, maybe a year before.. who knows?. By this time, it was very obvious that the house and property were completely empty except for the kids and I, but it was amazing to think. More indications of her presence lay about..
2005 Calendar
I lingered in the house for a moment or two more and heard a faint peeping noise from what had been a laundry alcove. I was rewarded by finding this.
There was a baby bird in the nest
From here, the next stop was the quasi-garage attached to the back of the house. More debris, more indications of life past and decayed..
Since Halloween is approaching, check out the back wall.
Oohhhh, stylish leopard print sneakers
From the garage, I started to head up into the decaying, partially built trailer next to the house. It was in such bad condition that I elected not to attempt it (falling through the floor would have sucked). Instead I wandered towards the barn and captured more images and memories
The Crow
Go towards the light
On the way back over to the car with the kids who I’d allowed to join me, I had to shoot this last image of the ranch’s well-head and tower. Adjacent to this old well was another modern well, covered only with a flimsy piece of plywood.
At this point, I’ve been unable to learn anything about Miguel and Bessie Lagunte, who’s names appeared on the various letters, bills, bank statements and so forth that were scattered around the site. Perhaps a realtor friend of mine might be able to run a title search to see who the current and past owners might be.
As for Felicia, the story continues on. While exploring a series of sites along the roads between Mojave and Ridgecrest last month, I found a brand new house along the roadside. It had been condemned due to improper/substandard building materials (ie. stuff from Mexico). As I photographed this property 35 miles north of Bessie’s place, I found a pair of mattresses (one full sized and one single), empty cartons of chocolate milk a stuffed teddy bear and pink writing on the walls. I’ll have that photo set later this month.