An Indian Summer gripped Wisconsin for far too long this September. Mosquitos rejoiced, trees clutched their green leaves. It was even hot enough to go to the beach for my mother’s birthday. But no heat wave would thwart me this year. I would have my fall foliage pictures no matter what Mother Nature said, dammit!
So when Bo suggested getting one more weekend at the family cabin up north, I gave an emphatic “YES!” Trees galore, beautiful lake, a well-timed cold-snap. Awesome, right?
Just look at that gorgeous blue water. Surrounded by green leaves. Grumble grumble.
But there was no denying the joy of a lakeshore littered by wee rocks. Bo and Blondie worked on skipping stones. Biff and Bash enjoyed their “fireworks”–aka, throwing clumps of sand into the air over the water.
Bo knew I was disappointed. “Did you want take pictures of the fish hatchery for your blog?”
(Insert irritated glare here.) “No.”
The weekend over, we stopped at a nearby town for gas, coffee, and a playground before heading home. We passed something we pass so often when visiting this town, and an idea hit me:
“Can you handle the kids at the park for a little while?”
“I guess. What’s up?”
“I want to take some pictures.”
“Of what?”
Many immigrants of German descent came to Wisconsin, which is why this state had such a large number of breweries for a while. Unlike the others, however, the Tiger Brewery has never been torn down, even though it’s been out of use since the 1930s.
It’s not for public entry. It’s not a museum. It’s just…a monument? That requires power lines, and blinds in the windows?
I take care with my camera when I near the occupied house next to the brewery. Perhaps they’re the caretakers, or neighbors who loathe snoopers.
But I can’t help but wonder about this place. It’s not falling apart, it’s not technically in use. In this town, it doesn’t seem to be anything. Why leave it alone? Why not enter it, and invite others to do the same? What’s in there people can’t look at? What’s hiding in there? What is this town protecting? Even the apples hang forgotten, rotten, from its trees.
One window board upon the tower flaps open. Bet there’s a stairwell in there to the top, and even to the underground. Deep, deep into the earth, beneath the river running behind this ignored place, deeper still where another forgotten world awaits, where eyes blink in darkness and long nails dig through stone, hunting…
Perhaps your own town has a similar street, where life hums at sunrise and sunset, but is otherwise left to a breezy quiet. What hides among the normal? What is the price this world pays to ignore its presence? What…where…when…who…why, why, why….These questions fly by us as leaves caught up in the wind.
Give chase, and don’t look back.
Perhaps there’s a whole mass of brewer’s ghosts getting drunk in the cellar?
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Oooo, yes! And each ghost would have his own little story to share to outdo the others–rather like the, oh, what were they called, the Yorkshire Men sketch from Monty Python.
Already, we have the makings of a little anthology… 😉
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I wonder what would happen if one ghost brewer lost the bottle opener? They’s have to leave the cellar and it would be like a zombie infection.
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Oooooh man…it’d be all town-wide panic, and they’re just knocking on an antique store window saying, “Look, we just want a bottle opener. Stop screaming! Gah, don’t throw that wheelbarrow through the window at me, that’s so uncivil of a neighbor.”
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I love this! My mind works the same way and many around me don’t get in to all the possibilities like I do. This made me think of a post I did a couple of years ago where I discovered an abandoned house in a touristy coastal town. I can’t get it out of my head. Reading this inspired me – I’ll have to go back and investigate a bit further. Thanks!
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Oooo, can you share the link about the post from a couple of years ago? I want to be up-to-date for your, um, update. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
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Jean my wheels are turning along with your well described churn of imaginative escape. I look forward to reading more!
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Thank you so much! It seems that the rush of life’s daily obligations so often leaves people too tired or distracted to care about the little blessings. Thanks for reading!
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This piece sparked a memory of a piece of England’s history. You see Ms Lee we once had a thing called The Window Tax! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax
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Oh goodness. I can only imagine how much this place would have had to shell out every year…but now this makes me think of the bricked up windows, and that they’re for forgotten rooms, and what’s been forgotten in them…
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The spiders that had no chance to escape?
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The downfall of the great spider civilization! Oooooo, imagine the story from the spider’s perspective…
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I just love abandoned buildings from which the paint peels and the memories linger. I saw Mike’s comment and he’s right Where we lived before there was a Georgian house right on the corner, very near with bricked up windows still. .
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Oh yes. Milwaukee is full of such places, but I could never spend enough time to portray it all. But you’ve got me thinking of a photographer who did…I should reach out to him…(insert sound of wheels turning here)…
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Jean…you could write the words to his photos…. xxxxxxxxx
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there’s so much said in them, and hidden, too. Seriously, I have got to get in touch with the guy and find out if he’ll talk. 😉
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I think that these places have a fascination for many people and YOU could do a local interest book a very successful one.
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(blushes) Sounds a promising, challenging premise… xxxxxxx
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What a great post! I’m loving your intro narrative, the photographs, your follow-up on a new exploration. The Tiger Brewery seems in such good condition, it’s hard to believe it’s just been left alone for imaginative people to muse about all these years😊.
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Indeed! I need to utilize my in-law’s acquaintances and find out more about the place. It *looks* like someone goes in there, but the rest of the building is in such disrepair that I can’t believe it’s officially habitable. Questions abound, don’t they? Thanks for reading!
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Ooooooooooohhhhhhh! I bet I’ll dream of this place tonight!
I’m reminded of “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” when the peddler (with knives on his car) forebodingly tells Charlie:
“Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushing glen,
We dare not go a hunting,
For fear of little men.
You see, nobody ever goes in, and nobody ever comes out.”
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Ooooooooooooooooo that’s just spooky! And it’s so strange how it just sits here in a residential neighborhood, too. It’s not even on the main drag. Everyone just lives around it, ignoring it….
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Thank Bo for mind the kids and letting you have a good explore of this fine old building (exterior only for now). Maybe you can find someone who used to work there. I can already hear you badgering your in-laws for information. Go for it.
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Have a most blessed Thanksgiving on your travels, Dear Friend. May the trains run on time and the days sunny for the camera. My greetings to Poor John! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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I love abandoned places, whatever state of repair they’re in, they have so much atmosphere and so many potential stories – this one looks like a great find.
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Thank you–I think so, too!
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Jean, I love your imagination and your descriptions, though I’m glad I don’t live in the town with that brewery, because I’m sure that it would always look sinister to me now (long nails in the dark, was it? 🙂 )
Hmmm, ‘the beer with a purr’ sounds mighty interesting tonight- shame that’s gone. (It had to be better than ‘Milwaukee’s Beast’ anyway, right? 🙂 ) Hug Bo and the kids for us. Then have him give you a hug from us too… xxx
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I will. Share our love with your family, too–we miss you all dearly!
And it is rather peculiar a brand with this sort of slogan never made a comeback, especially in this microbrewing golden age…
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Will do- maybe that’s the mystery of the brewery! Someone lurking in the basement working on just the right recipe for a comeback!
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LOL! With the ghost monks George was talking about who lost their bottle opener…gosh, we are just giving away so many awesome ideas for free here! 😀
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YES! I read that bit- sounds like a good song if not a story…;)
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I have never been to America, let alone Wisconsin. But I once had a vivid dream about Madison. I still can’t make it out. https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/my-trip-to-madison/
Thanks for following my blog, which is much appreciated.
Best wishes,, Pete.
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Curious! Madison isn’t too much like the rest of Wisconsin, but it has some important elements. Looking forward to the read–thank you for stopping by! xxxxx
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Buildings such as this are another reason I am not a man of independent means, because I would spend all of it, and my time, arranging for the restoration and conversion of them. Also I would hire a driver to take me everywhere while I took naps in the backseat.
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I really want to do more pieces like this on buildings in Milwaukee, but Lord knows where time for that is.
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It is wonderful that you were inspired to take these pictures. What an amazing slice of history.
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Thanks! 🙂 xxxxxxxx
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It does sound like a wonderful place. I love the stories of old buildings. They are bridges to past lives. Just walking around York and the mind goes into overdrive, all that history, all those long forgotten stories and characters. Yes I would love to hear more about your regions buildings and the associated stories.
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Now that’s something I’ll always envy–the built monuments of history. I’d be a fool to say Wisconsin has no old history; it’s just that the *European*/pioneer history isn’t super old. I’ve been contemplating how to go about reaching out to one of the Native tribes of Wisconsin (like the Ojibwe) to learn more about the deeper history of this land. There’s so much unknown that I want to know…you know?
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Yes I get that. Even if something is only 50 years old, it still has history. The advantage is that the history is more accessible.
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True!
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