Thursday, November 5, 2009

Danny's Broken Ribs Revisted

This past Sunday, my buddy Danny and I hit the trails on our dirtbikes. (I also went riding by myself this morning, only to discover a blown fork seal on my 450X -- Grrrrrrrr! -- but that's another story.) While riding Sunday, Danny confided to me that a recent x-ray revealed that I had actually broken not three of his ribs, but FOUR of them!

If you never read the story of how I broke Danny's ribs, here's a link to that blog entry: "Don't Run Over Your Wingman!" It's as funny today as it was back in 2008 when I wrote it. Sorry, Danny. Heh heh.

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Ghost Town: Fallis, Oklahoma (Part LAST)

Fallis Community Center. No more community, though...

The vines they creepeth forth to reclaim their own...

Lots of junk left behind.

But still no lunch for our weery adventurer ... or the ghosts of Fallis.

Oh my god, they left Leo behind! On vinyl no less!

Ho, ho, ho.

Leftovers.

The old ivories.

A couch on which you could make out with your sweetie.


And a parting shot.

That concludes my exploration of the Oklahoma ghost town Fallis. Why did the town die? Where did all the people go? Why did they leave so much behind?

The ghosts aren't talking...







Addendum: Just a few followups, compliments of Google...

This link will take you to an excerpt from the book Ghost Towns of Oklahoma by John Wesley Morris (source of the material I excerpted from the Abandoned OK website). It tells a bit more about Fallis, but still doesn't clarify the reasons for the town's demise.

Wikipedia has some brief information and census data for Fallis (pop. of 28 in the 2000 OK census).

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Ghost Town: Fallis, Oklahoma (Part 6)

Ruin.

This door kept banging in the wind the whole time I was inside ... in the dark ... totally creeped me out. Kept thinking someone was coming in behind me to get me. LOL.

The wall was blackened by the old floor heater, except where portraits of loved ones once hung on the wall. Do their ghosts haunt these old abandoned homes?

If so, they're smokers. And they like orange soda. Another Zenith television. Does Zenith even exist anymore?

Another empty refrigerator. They're hungry ghosts if they haunt these abodes.


Again, the ghosts of old portraits and paintings haunt the walls.

You can almost imagine someone still sitting in that rocker, can't you?

What significance, the red door?

The Leaning House of Fallis.

I would not advise lingering beneath that old chimney stack.

This one's too far gone.

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Ghost Town: Fallis, Oklahoma (Part 5)

Home sweet home ... at least it once was to someone.


Flotsam and jetsam.


Decay.

Just another crapper. Had to be a bitch in the middle of a cold winter night.

Sorry. Can't resist opening the doors on these things and looking inside.

No lunch here.

Detritus.

I think we're going to need one of those new digital converters...

You have to scout the woods to find these old foundations.

Possibly predates the other buildings in Fallis...?

Oil change and a tune up, and she's probably good to go.

If these walls could talk... (Addendum: It's funny how only later, reviewing the photos, do I notice things like that pink garment hanging in the closet. Why didn't I see it at the time? Was I too focused on the bed itself? Now I wonder what else is in that closet.)

Indoor plumbing!

No lunch here either.

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Ghost Town: Fallis, Oklahoma (Part 4)

The Dakar in downtown Fallis on a hopping Saturday night (well, Saturday afternoon anyway).

No school today.

And the bus driver isn't here.

We can remedy that real quick. Where ya wanna go?

Standing room only.

And don't mind the birds.

Obviously, the Fallis kids swiped this puppy from Wellston one Friday night after the big game.

If this was in my backyard, I could probably turn it into something really neat. Hmmmm....

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Ghost Town: Fallis, Oklahoma (Part 3)

Knock before entering...


...and don't mind the mess. The maid was off today.


Monday's work shirt is clean and pressed.


But Mother Hubbard's cupboard is a bit bare.


Somebody's been enjoying the peace and quiet in Fallis.


Another home fades into ruin.


Watch your head (feet too, as the floors of most of these homes aren't in much better shape and might just go out from under you!).


Windows haven't been washed in quite some time.


And that sofa probably needs a good scrubbing, too.

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