Preface To Locks: Locks On The Gates Of Empty Houses

There's a street in my neighborhood that has at the very least three empty houses - I call them "ghost houses" although I don't believe in ghosts - & I'm not entirely sure they're all completely uninhabited. The owners of my favorite ghost house come by the spring & early summer to tend to a garden on the property, for example. & one of the ghost houses has a suspiciously well-kept lawn. But I think they're all mostly empty. & there could be many reasons why.

One empty house (not on this street but very near) suddenly had repair crews & all kinds of remodeling going on after many months of just sitting there, & a neighbor told me that the house had been owned by two siblings who fought about its fate - one wanted to rent it out, the other to sell it. They were in a stalemate until one of them died - the one who wanted to rent it out. The house was fixed up & sold. So you see. Why they're empty is all speculation.

Though I do suspect at least one of them has a very old occupant who is passing their last days in the home they've lived in for decades & it's dark & lonesome & quite terrifying in there. Mainly it's terrifying because I think it could be my fate. Especially if in my old age I can't afford the internet.

My favorite ghost house, though, is fenced all around, but the fences are locked with a padlock. That's the picture above. Taken this afternoon. Not that I'd sneak in. I felt I was trespassing leaning over the fence to take this picture!