Sunday 1 July 2012

Theme Day - Chimneys


Kicking the tuffs of long, mangled grass, flashes of the lives of others zipped through my imagining. Little remained to show for the toil, and the heart-break of my forebears: save a commons unearthed by a sharp kick. I lowered the faded polaroid, as the emotion welled within. This is the way the world goes ...


Jamieson, in the Victorian high country, in 2011 retracing the lives of my great-grandparents who built this chimney soon after their arrival from Gloucestershire, England, in 1862. The first photograph dates from the early 1980s. The chimney was knocked down soon after.

Portal Theme Day linklage Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Temporary Theme Day linkage If the portal is still down, use this alternate method of participating in the CDPB July Theme Day.

22 comments:

Mark said...

A chimney with a family connection, now that is special!
CDP was working yesterday, I thought the problem may have been the storms in the USA, anyway, thanks Julie for putting up the blog.

Gerald (SK14) said...

just a brick is all it takes to stir the memory

Dina said...

Such a moving post!

Anonymous said...

An impressive mean to measure time and life indeed. The story, very moving indeed.

Please have a good new month ahead.

Jim said...

Great chimney with a history. Thanks for setting up the meme page since CDP is not functioning.

cieldequimper said...

Marvellous post Julie. And thanks again.

Dianne said...

Yes Julie, much toil and heartbreak ... I would have lowered the Polaroids.

Birdman said...

This is really a piece of you the.

Thanks for the CDP reminder.

Ann said...

Very special chimney. Shame it is not longer there.

Kate said...

Family history has so many levels to it, some positive but others not so. I like the fact that you can make a connection to this chimney, even tho it can create some emotion.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I nice thought provoking post. Has me thinking how many of the homes of my great-grandparents are still standing. I know of one, an old Queenslander but that means there are 3 more to try to discover.

Julie said...

iios just realised I omitted one of the greats Stephen & Hannah were the grandparents of my grandmother, making them my g-g-grandparents.

hamilton said...

that extra great makes this even more poignant, for the distance,
thank you for this CDP link.

Deb said...

We both have a family link to today's post. I think your g-g-grandparents would be very touched to know how much you care today about the things that mattered to them in their daily lives.
Thanks for setting up the CDP theme day meme (again!).

paul said...

Your very personal chimney and post. Excellent.

Lachezar said...

Touching story well narrated and illustrated Julie!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Gone but not forgotten hey Julie, always remembered in your images.Wonderful post, I bet your g-g-grandparents really enjoyed it. thanks for organizing the theme day spot again Julie.

Valladolid Daily Photo said...

A very interesting story for the theme day. Well done, thanks for sharing and have a good week.

Kay L. Davies said...

A bittersweet discovery, Julie. This post made me think of visiting the graves of my grandparents.
K

Regina K said...

Such a violation to destroy one's history. Fortunately for you to have the top photo for remembrance.

Petrea Burchard said...

Julie, your post is so moving. Thank you for it. It would have been enough, yet you made it possible for us all to share our "chimney" posts today and I thank you for that as well. (Still the 1st in California as I write.)

Bergson said...

i think is a strange chimneys