When I was a little girl, both my grandmothers had the most interesting attics! Grandma Hamilton's attic was actually a little apartment that the housekeeper once lived in. My cousins and I used to love going up there and imagining what it was like to have a housekeeper who lived in the attic. Nothing had been left behind when she retired except the bed and a small dresser. The attic was now filled with old things that "Gramma" no longer used and we reverently left the trunks and boxes unopened (for the most part!). We loved to sit on the old bed, tell stories, look out the windows and wonder what it was like to be neighbors with the birds.
My Grandmother Jones' attic was even more mysterious, mostly because the stairs that led up to it took an unexpected turn half way up. Whenever we visited for the holidays, I would often sneak up there for a moment to stare at my aunts' old toys and memorabilia and daydream. It was always dusty and partially shadowed because of the great tree that blocked the sun from streaming through the window. Instead the light filtered into the room in a dappled fashion and it always made the dust I stirred up look like fairy mites dancing about the room. As a youngster it seemed expansive and full of ancient mysteries because of all those "old things". Yet many years later, as I helped my aunt close up the house when my grandmother went to a nursing home, I was shocked to discover how small it really was and the dust that used to dance across the floor made me sneeze! But many of those ancient mysteries turned into family treasures (mostly photographs of my ancestors) which came home with me and I enjoy them to this day.
Attics truly are places which entertain fantasy and turn our thoughts to stories of the past. And some attics can also be a bit scary with those dusty shadows and forgotten boxes. So when I went to photograph my attic today, I decided to give it the feeling of those attics of my past. Maybe someday, after I clean out the unwanted bric-a-brac my own grandchildren will be able to climb up there and tell stories or wonder about its contents. And years later they will able to say, "When I was little, my Grammy had the coolest attic, with pull-down stairs and rugs stuck in the rafters!" Ah, yes, nostalgia can be a wonderful thing!
Very well done, and I now live in my Grandparents house, and I am able to go up there anytime I want and relive all those memories of sneaking upstairs into that dark space, wondering what I would find.
@tklein Thank you Tina! I have not published anything yet and am slowly sending things out for submission. Who knows! It would be very exciting to be published. @bruni Thank you Bruni! This shot very nicely hides the fact that my attic is stuffed!! My big goal is to empty it and get rid of a lot of things by the end of the summer! @mrssmith Thanks Carla! Basements have their own magic too! I'll never forget the first time I saw the DelBuono's basement with a complete kitchen in it! I asked what it was for since they had a complete working kitchen upstairs as well. It was explained to me that the basement kitchen was solely for the purpose of making pasta. @digitalrn Your house sounds wonderful Rick! What a treasure to be in a house that belonged to several generations in your family! Thanks! @nicolecampbell Thanks Nicole! I think I remember my sisters reading that book. Wasn't it a scary one?
when i used to live with partner in his mother's farmhouse, i discovered that there was an opening that lead to the attic, actually just a crawlspace between the roof and the ceiling. saw this square thing in the ceiling and i told partner to turn that almost invisible knob, that he said he never really noticed. oh, the dust that fell down. then we saw loads and loads of photographs, an old worn out travelling chest that his ancestors used when they came to canada more than two hundred years ago. when we opened it, we both had this feeling of being transported back in time. but the one thing i wanted from that attick was the hat box i posted on may 26, 2011 (see http://365project.org/summerfield/365/2011-05-26 ). that i wouldn't part with.
in the old country though, attic stories are not pleasant stories. they were used to hide children with birth defects or a female relatives that mysteriously got pregnant. but in general attics have a lot of stories to tell.
i love how you framed this photo, reminds me of the dusts that fell off the farmhouse's ceiling when we opened it. i quite envy your stories. my parents' parents had long died before we were born.
@summerfield Thanks Vikki! It's processed with the daugertype (I spelled that wrong) effect in Picmonkey- frame too. Yes, I've also heard of some very sad stories with attics as you mentioned. Thankfully that was not my experience but I do know it exists. On the other hand it sounds like it was a wonderful discovery to find all those photos and that cool hat box as well!
It looks like my attic! My Great Aunt Esther had a seriously scary attic - I couldn't even say why it was scary particularly, but it most certainly was.
What a Great imagination you have ...this is an awesome story and memory..i am going to up in my Dads attick soon..and i am sure i will have stories to tell! Love this and FAV for Nastalgia!!!
Your writing is wonderful and together with your photo, got me thinking about dusty attics and things I know are in ours and haven't been disturbed for years.
Nice attic stories - I remember my nana's house had a fun attic to explore too :) I've never lived in a house with an attic myself... Probably just as well or I'd imagine all sorts of odd things happening up there! I like the mystery of your photo :)
Reminds of myself as a young girl. I used to love attics and explore through all the old memoirs and make up stories. It's been decades since I've been an attic. I love your story and mysterious look to the scene.
@ulpiphotos Thank you Ulpi! @ellimae Thank you Ellen! And thank you so much for the fav!! Save those stories for your family. They are just as important as the wonderful things you will find up there. @louisefrance Thank you Louise. What a generous compliment! I'm glad you enjoy my stories. Sometimes I worry that I write too much! @peterdegraaff Thank you Peter! And just in case you really wanted to know- you're looking up. @alia_801 Thank you Alia! Oh- you'd love having an attic. You would turn it into a playground for the girls. @cimes1 Thanks Carole! I knew I wanted that sort of feel to the shot, so when I took it I had in mind that I would be using an effect in Picmonkey called Daugertype (I'm not sure that's how you spell it). Even though I shot this in color the effect makes it sepia or black and white depending on which application you choose. I had sepia in mind because the picture was mostly monochromatic to begin with. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.
You remind me of the first Narnia (or was it Harry Potter) film with your narrative. Lovely shot. Alas, since our houses have flat roofs which we utilise otherwise, we couldn't sneak up there when we were young. Well we had other ways to entertain ourselves.
@netkonnexion Thank you Netkonnexion! @filsie65 Thank you Phil! lol about your mum! @kloud Thank you Bonnie! @sangwann Thank you Dione- it must be Narnia. I am a fan of C. S. Lewis and have never read J. K. Rowling. A flat roof has it's own magic I'm sure- lattices with vines, pots of fragrant flowers, family gatherings and good times around a hearty meal.
@prttblues Thank you Bev! Haha- the only scary thing up there is the millions of boxes you can't see that I have to bring down and pare down this summer!! @potsbypam Thanks Pam! Thanks to a great pov you can't tell there's no free space in this one!! @crickle1969 Why thank you Chrystal!
I loved reading your comments about attics! Neat photo, too. I loved the attic of the house where I grew up in NJ. Here in Louisiana, the attic is way too hot much of the year...
@eudora Thanks Diane- oh- NJ!! I'm a Jersey girl too! I grew up in Essex county and lived in Sussex county as well before moving here to PA. Where in NJ did you grow up? My hometown was Caldwell.
Wow! I grew up in Summit in Union County, but I spent my summers at Lake Mohawk, near Sparta in Sussex County. I haven't been back in years because I don't have any family left there. I have a lot of great memories, though...
May 10th, 2012
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@kimmistephens Thank you Kimmi!
awakes your imagination..wondering what treasures you'll find there.
@bruni Thank you Bruni! This shot very nicely hides the fact that my attic is stuffed!! My big goal is to empty it and get rid of a lot of things by the end of the summer!
@mrssmith Thanks Carla! Basements have their own magic too! I'll never forget the first time I saw the DelBuono's basement with a complete kitchen in it! I asked what it was for since they had a complete working kitchen upstairs as well. It was explained to me that the basement kitchen was solely for the purpose of making pasta.
@digitalrn Your house sounds wonderful Rick! What a treasure to be in a house that belonged to several generations in your family! Thanks!
@nicolecampbell Thanks Nicole! I think I remember my sisters reading that book. Wasn't it a scary one?
in the old country though, attic stories are not pleasant stories. they were used to hide children with birth defects or a female relatives that mysteriously got pregnant. but in general attics have a lot of stories to tell.
i love how you framed this photo, reminds me of the dusts that fell off the farmhouse's ceiling when we opened it. i quite envy your stories. my parents' parents had long died before we were born.
@ellimae Thank you Ellen! And thank you so much for the fav!! Save those stories for your family. They are just as important as the wonderful things you will find up there.
@louisefrance Thank you Louise. What a generous compliment! I'm glad you enjoy my stories. Sometimes I worry that I write too much!
@peterdegraaff Thank you Peter! And just in case you really wanted to know- you're looking up.
@alia_801 Thank you Alia! Oh- you'd love having an attic. You would turn it into a playground for the girls.
@cimes1 Thanks Carole! I knew I wanted that sort of feel to the shot, so when I took it I had in mind that I would be using an effect in Picmonkey called Daugertype (I'm not sure that's how you spell it). Even though I shot this in color the effect makes it sepia or black and white depending on which application you choose. I had sepia in mind because the picture was mostly monochromatic to begin with. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.
@filsie65 Thank you Phil! lol about your mum!
@kloud Thank you Bonnie!
@sangwann Thank you Dione- it must be Narnia. I am a fan of C. S. Lewis and have never read J. K. Rowling. A flat roof has it's own magic I'm sure- lattices with vines, pots of fragrant flowers, family gatherings and good times around a hearty meal.
@potsbypam Thanks Pam! Thanks to a great pov you can't tell there's no free space in this one!!
@crickle1969 Why thank you Chrystal!