A snowy morning

It snowed in Vicksburg yesterday. Here are three shots taken early Thursday morning in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Rodney, MS

 Visited Rodney, Mississippi, this past weekend. The Flood of 2011 took its toll on the town, especially the Rodney Baptist Church, above, which had its interior swirled around by floodwaters. Please click on each photo to enlarge it, to better see the details.

 This is the same photo as the one at top, except with a poster edges filter applied to it.

 Here is the church in color. I love the cupola on top.

 The church doors are wide open now and you can go into the church. The photo above is from the balcony of the church looking down into the sanctuary.

 These pews were all pushed into a corner of the corner.

 The pulpit still stand strong and proud.

 A photo from the small choir loft of the church, directly behind the pulpit.

 The songbook on the piano is in the Rodney Presbyterian Church, which now has its doors wide open.

 A torn hymnal on one of the front pews.

 A view of the church from the rear of the sanctuary.

 The pews have doors in which to enter.

 Above is view of the bell of the church, shot upward from the balcony of the church. That is the bell rope.

 This chair was sitting in the Masonic Lodge, which is now wide open to all who visit. I was expecting to find something a bit more exotic, but did not. There was a stairway to the second floor at the rear of the building, but the floor to that staircase was not something I trusted to walk upon.

 A bench in the front of the lodge.

 A wide angle view of the right side of the first floor.

 The front of the building held these old voting booths.

 The Masonic Lodge. It used to have a sign above the door, which if you visit my other blog, you can see.

 Back to the Rodney Presbyterian Church. This is the piano and round bench  in the back of the church.

 The hole in the balcony floor for the bell rope.

 The balcony of the Rodney Presbyterian Church was quite interesting, featuring only this one pew. If you sat in the pew, you could see the pulpit but not any of the sanctuary pews. The ladder behind the pew leads to the belfry.

Rodney Presbyterian Church, with its famous cannon ball above the center window. With all these buildings exposed to the elements and vandals, they won't be around much longer. Go see them while you can.

Windsor Ruin's Majestic Oaks

 A new lens of mine is opening up a whole new world. The above shot was taken with an 8-15mm lens, which means it can capture a 180-degre scene, or pretty much from side to side.

Please click on these photos to enlarge them for the optimum view.

 I have loved the majestic oak tree that is in the woods on the left side of the road leading into the Ruins ever since I first ventured to this piece of Claiborne County. But I had always been frustrated at not being able to capture the majesty of the tree. Until now.

 To me, it is worth venturing down to Windsor Ruins just to walk underneath this magnificent tree. It has been around for a long, long time and has been a sentinel to Windsor Ruins for many a year.

This oak is located on the other side of the road at the entrance to Windsor Ruins.

Margaret's Grocery

 If you have not been by Margaret's Grocery on North Washington Street in a while, get ready for a shock. The monument that the late Rev. H.D. Dennis built for his wife, Margaret, is quickly disappearing as seen in these photos taken in the last few days. Major pieces of the structure have now fallen and many other pieces have disappeared. Only a couple of the signs are readable. The Ark of the Covenant, which used to be on the front porch, is gone and the rocking chair has disappeared in the last couple of month. I don't know what shape the interior of the home is in, but the lock on the bus is still intact, but I don't know for how much longer.

 Please click on each photo to enlarge so as to see the details of the property.

 The front wall of the home was covered in stories of Rev. Dennis and his castle, but most have rotted away or been ripped down.

 A few pieces of small artwork created by Rev. Dennis are still hanging on.

 This handwritten sign from Rev. Dennis only remains because it is behind a piece of wire fencing.

Above, on the left side of the porch is where the Ark of the Covenant sat. One of the poles to carry it is still there.

 A portion of the right side of the grocery's roof is exposed to the eletments now.

 Rev. Dennis reused and repainted over most of the signs at the store. Here is a message on the back of a sign hanging on the front of the store.

The fascinating part of Rev. Dennis' artwork was how he used small objects in his artwork. This sign is one of the few remaining on the property.

This mirror on the right side of the porch remains unbroken.