A Tire Swing and a Cellar

A dirt driveway meandered off into the woods. I wondered where it led. 

The ruins of an old abandoned house greeted us. Who once lived there? I guessed some grandparents who were visited summers and holidays by happy grandchildren.

 This old tire swing was what caught my eye and made me wonder about the place. Look at the curve of tree limb. The house was a shambles, not safe to explore inside or even around.

The swing, we noticed was hung on a piece of old bailing or fence wire.

The chimney of the fireplace was unusual, made of stone. I can imagine a cold winter night and the family sitting comfortably inside watching a fire.Grandma in her rocking chair and several with blankets wrapped around their shoulders. Grandpa would be telling stories.

Vines and underbrush have nearly taken the house. Soon it will collapse and the prairie take back the land.

An old cellar sat beside the house at the back of the property.

This cellar was like a dugout cut into the banks so that the roof was barely above the level of the ground.

This cellar's door was gone. It would be a place for kids to play on hot days and for the family to hide out during tornado weather. Pretty spooky looking but not a deep or treacherous cellar like some I have found. I enjoy guessing about the people who might have lived in prairie places like this. Did they homestead  and keep the land in the family for many years? Who were they? What were their names?