Road Trip for a Door in La Moille

Via Facebook Marketplace, Liz found a door that she really wanted, to use as our back kitchen door. She repaired the one we have now, but has been on the lookout for its replacement for some time.

This morning we rented a U-Haul van, and made our way down to La Moille.

The door nestled near the entrance to Jayson’s (the seller) garage.

He also invited us to look around inside the garage, and it was chock full of amazing things.

Lots of old bottles.

More doors, and hey – I recognize that chop saw!

We learned that one of the recent picks was a funeral home. He originally went there to pick up a table, and came away with more items than expected.

You may not spot them at first.

Something about the power tool atop the coffin caught my eye.

We were told that Jayson was “pretty sure” these coffins weren’t used.

Jayson helped us move the door to the van, and also tied things down with some knots. He said he’s had a lot of practice transporting large items.

We ended up hanging out and chatting with Jayson and Jamie for a good while. It was really lovely to talk with them, walk around their space, and to look over all their items.

It’s been a very long time since Liz and I have really had this kind of interaction with… well, with anyone. We’ve really removed ourselves from the world a good deal, for over a year now. And we both realized how refreshing it was to simply talk and have a conversation with friendly people again.

On our way out of town, we ran into a small traffic jam.

On the way in, we passed this fairly large… mound? It doesn’t quite look as big here, but looked out of place. Everything else around here is completely flat… except this thing.

We’re a little closer here. This is by the intersection of County Road 13 and IL-89. I’m just really curious about the geological history of whatever this thing is. But maybe I’m making more out of it than it is. Maybe this is just a landfill?

On our way home, we got the suggestion to stop in Ottawa to check out 229 Estates, in the possibility they might have some newel posts for sale. We didn’t really find any there, but ended up exploring around a lot.

Old media fascinates me. As time and technology march on, it seems like old media begins to fade away. And like some kind of nostalgic “survival of the fittest” process, only the really popular movies end up standing the test of time.

A mix of old and new.

As we walked further into the storefront, we kept encountering more and more rooms.

I was scanning some fo the books available, and one just caught my eye.

“Why You Lose At Bridge”

It’s weird to think of a book or a book title being hostile. But on seeing and reading this, I felt like someone had been poking me in the chest with their index finger.

I love the fact that this was a gift. And was given “with love.”

While it does ease up in Part Two, the chapters of this book also sound really hostile.

Fun to find old Sears Catalogs, especially given my time there. They do tend to show up from time to time.

It was cool to see this one. But then I noticed some writing and…

… immediately got skeeved out a bit. I did not touch this book.

Old Piano rolls. I really wish I had a player piano, and a whole afternoon to just run through these rolls.

More old media.

On seeing all these old tape reels, it made me want to buy everything and start running wiretaps.

A wave of nostalgia hit me, on seeing these “Jump Ups.” I never knew they had a name, they just existed as this kind of amorphous item in my hazy memory (until now).

Clown finds are the best finds.

We ended up walking to a nearby store (called Gramma’s Attic) and also browsed around there for a bit.

This doormat seemed incredibly timely, although the more I stared at it… the less certain I was who the target audience was supposed to be.

Was this meant to be a door mat outside a residence, designed for visitors to see? As if to say – if you forgot a mask, you can’t come inside?

Or was this supposed to be a door mat for inside the house, by the front door. Something for the home owner to see, before they left. As a reminder? As in “Oops, did you forget your mask?” Or “oops” as in “Opps, I guess I forgot my mask… too bad. I’m leaving anyways.”

The longer I stare, the less I know who this is intended for.

An interesting set of videos, but I was unclear what art we were wanting to master here.

Until I looked closer.

In the basement: there were tons of additional items down here. But some of the areas were really packed full, and some areas in particular had items stacked really high… and seemed incredibly precarious.

I was actually nervous walking through here, because one light bump and I could see a lot of glass and plates crashing to the ground. I was actually relieved when I got to the other side of the building and could walk back upstairs again.

An incredibly large copy of Webster’s Unabridged.

You may not see it at first, but then it jumps out at you.

And then you can’t un-see it.

Related:
Screen Door, Tile Floor

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