As day breaks, the anticipation of the hunt begins to permeate the air. Today a group of elite, well to do men will leave the comforts of their plush mansions and plentiful bounty to claim their long obsessed trophy. Horses mounted, hounds at their side, and firearms in tow… they set out into the unforgiving countryside. As the bugle sounds, the dogs grow restless, tension builds… and now there is only one thing on their minds… stalk, corner, and capture the much prized… red fox.

Meek, sly, and beautiful…a brief narrative of this highly sought after creature. Her coat is soft, her eyes are elegant, her intuition is dialed in and on point. Even in her native woods she knows that she doesn’t have a chance against these persistent hounds and the greedy men that so eagerly seek her capture. She will have to act quick and make precisely calculated, full proof decisions to get herself out of this predicament…

Almost immediately, instinct kicks in as her genius plans start to come to fruition. The only option for survival and sustainability becomes appallingly clear as she will have to take refuge in the very place they have left behind in order to search for her. The morning sun has barely crested over the tree tops and already she has out smarted them on every level. For the hunters, this will be a unfruitful and frustrating endeavor… for her it will be just another day of upholding the much deserved name and reputation as The Ever Elusive Fox…

“I named this series The Ever Elusive Fox because that sums up Anna in about 4 words. Unobtainable in so many ways.. she is a free spirit that can not be tamed. Her independence and strong will sets her apart from the rest. Men will exhaust their efforts to find her and keep her as their own only to be evaded and disappointed. She’s not like ‘other’ girls in so many ways. She is creative, smart and knows how to survive. Often feeling misunderstood.. one of the things that I find very attractive about Anna is how well she is able to relate with me on a creative level. To thus point, finding someone who could really understand me at my creative core has been close to impossible. Yes she is physically attractive as seen in these photos.. but if you look past her perfect skin, her amazing curves and those penetrating eyes you will also uncover a beautiful mind that is hard not to fall in love with. I don’t exactly know what makes Anna tick and I probably never will, but at the end of the day her allure keeps me intrigued and coming back for more, no matter how much she gets on my nerves sometimes! I couldn’t imagine such an adventure with anyone else and I most certainly hope its not our last.” – Cary

“I shouldn’t be here, but it doesn’t matter. I get what I want and always get away with it.” – Anna

Don’t look at me like
I am a monster
Frown out your one face
But with the other
Stare like a junkie
Into the TV
Stare like a zombie
While the mother
Holds her child
Watches him die
Hands to the sky crying
Why, oh why?
’cause I need to watch things die
From a distance

I need to watch things die
From a good safe distance
Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies
You all feel the same so
Why can’t we just admit it?

Song and Complete Lyrics
Vicarious performed by TOOL (10,000 Days)

After a short two and a half hour flight from Miami International, we land safely in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Fifty five minutes later we arrive in Antigua with a mix bag of warm smiles and emotionless stares. I’m pretty sure those are some old bullet holes above the door there too. Some of these structures date back to the mid 1,600′s

One thing I learned quick in Antigua… just cause it looks abandoned, doesn’t mean it is. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a 3rd world country and that I can’t just go poking my head in anywhere I want to. Security is quite the priority in Guatemala. Almost every door and window had bars on them. Antigua is pretty well policed and I felt pretty safe.. For the most part bandito’s don’t come around here much although the smell of all that tourist money must be tempting for them.

Gallo is the numero uno beer in Guatemala… I drank lots of it. Maybe too much of it.

And behind door number 13…

The new mixes in with the old everywhere you look in Antigua. Ruins from when the volcano flushed everyone out of the city still stand till this day. Needless to say I was in heaven. Its nice to see real architecture for a change… even in its aged, weathered state. It sure beats the pre-fab, faux, pink throw up, palm trees and pelicans parade in Naples. Say that 5 times fast…

In the late morning the clouds break and we have a better view of our surroundings. No matter where you are in the city you can usually see one of the three volcanoes that loom over the valley.

The temperature in Guatemala is a comfortable 75-85F. Almost never humid and always a nice breeze kicking morning, day and night. The perfect climate to grow and harvest one of my favorite things ever… coffee. We made it a point to visit the coffee plantation located just outside of Antigua for some fresh java and some high altitude zip lining… and by high altitude I mean like hanging on a wire over 2,000 ft. in the air. It was nuts but what a great way to spend the afternoon.

After heading back to town, we soak in some more of Antigua before we return to our hotel and catch a nap.

We are greeted by one of three the stray dogs that the owner of the hotel lets hang around. She follows us up to the room and with every step of her bum leg my heart melts a little bit more. The dogs can smell a sucker from a mile away and she has locked onto us with the sad eyes. Lauren asks for a handshake and she gives her paw without hesitation..that most certainly deserves some beef jerky.

Nightlife in Antigua is amazing on so many levels.. Most of it was a blur of alcohol, smoke and laughs so the pics will have to speak for themselves. We went to this one bar that was on a 3rd story terrace and it overlooked a ruin right next door. I was so tempted to climb over there and explore but I was too hammered to even take a steady picture let alone launch my fat ass off a ledge that I probably would never be able to climb back up.

Genuine absinthe prepared the right way is an amazing thing my friends. This place also had some of the best mac n cheese I have ever had… didn’t see that one coming.

Yup reggae in Guatemala and it was awesome… So good that the lead singer of Zanate n Stereo wasn’t even afraid to puff on some herb while he gave praise to Jah. Even though possession of marijuana is frowned upon in Antigua they do seem to tolerate it to a point as seen here.

Thank heaven for Tienda La Estrellita. Most stores close early in the evening and if you don’t get what you need before they call it a day, you will probably find yourself here. OCD anonymous is also held here every third Wednesday of the month.

Mornings in Antigua are busy with locals getting to school and work… some streets busier than others.

Tuk Tuks are a quick way to get around but expect a bumpy ride on these streets.

Not everyone in Antigua is on vacation. There were peddlers, beggars and crooks o’ plenty. I made sure to take care of some of the less fortunate during my travels… they too can smell a sucker a mile away

We happened to be visiting the week of Lent so we got to see the city streets decorated with these very ornate wreaths and walkways made of flowers, colored saw dust and other random materials.

The procession trample these beautiful pieces of art as they make their way through the streets. I was sure to snap a few pics during the day before they were destroyed.

I guess size doesn’t matter. This was made by a young child while her older siblings helped out with a bigger piece.

Once night fell, everyone started filling the streets waiting for the procession to begin. The band kicked things off with a few traditional favorites.

The men and boys of several churches carried these huge floats on their backs and shoulders all through the streets. The majority of people in Guatemala are Catholic so this is a pretty big deal for them.. not just in Antigua but all over the country.

On one our last days in Antigua we decided to go check out Casa Santo Domingo where our friends were staying. This place was not only a hotel it was a museum that housed thousands of Antigua artifacts dating back all the way to the late 1,500′s. There was art for as far as the eye could see covering the lobby, common areas and hallways. These marionettes were everywhere. I meant to purchase some before we left but I ended up buying a Maximon statue instead.

Towards the back of the property there was an underground catacomb and some tombs next to the cathedral ruins. High profile priests and other holy men alike were buried there. Some of the tombs were damaged from the elements others were robbed through the years.

These remains have been here for hundreds of years and could be viewed down in the catacomb. I’m pretty sure I was not supposed to take a picture of this but the voices in my head told me it was ok.

This is a skeleton that was in one of the above ground tombs.

Truth be told I have at least another 100 pictures I could easily post and talk your ear off about but I might save that for another day. Hope you have enjoyed the pics and write up. If you ever get the chance to visit Antigua I highly recommend it. The food, the sights, the culture, the art… its all there.

Some spots of this house were so moldy that I felt like a had the black lung just 15 minutes into my explore. The walls and wooden furniture seemed to just melt into globs of mold and decay. A slow drip of moisture and mold rendered some things un-recognizable. One table I found was separated into the individual plies of wood or particle board that once made up the table top.. it looked like a stack of old record albums at 1st but when I went to grab one it all came apart in my hands as splinters and dust.

I hate wearing respirators cause its seems to be the iconic explorer thing to wear (even when you don’t need to be wearing one) plus they are hot, annoying and cumbersome.. but I didn’t have much of a choice during this explore.

I want to say that this house was foreclosed on long before the economy shit the bed almost 2 years ago judging by the dates on some of the documents and newspapers that I found. Looks like this guy used to sell metal detectors out of his house or out of the shed I should say.. The house was frozen in the 80′s for the most part but after some poking around I did find some newer, more modern things laying around. I’m guessing homeless people squatted here in the winters at some point, god knows no human in there right mind would try and stay there during the summer.

On the exterior of the house were a series of sheds and make shift work benches all connected to each other. Each space seemed to have its own use or purpose (at one time) but for the most part there was just piles of junk stacked everywhere. No rhyme or reason to most of it so it was hard to piece together a story of what happened here in years past.

Exterior

Hot Threads

Melt

Slow Drip

1st Place

Jimmy Rig

Granny Loves You

Goodbye

UPDATE 11/22/11

Went back to this house to do a photoshoot with my friend Lissa.. Its really falling apart now. The dining room floor has caved in and there are more soft spots in the floor than ever. Hoping to go back and do a few more shots before it caves in all together.

Lissa

Exterior

Porch

Light The Way

Weather Station

The Bad News Is… There is no Good News

Yankin My Chain

Diffuse

Seasons of Shit

Film Fetish

Flowers Never Breaking Through The Stone

WARNING I have been contacted by the owner of this property and was advised that it is ILLEGAL to tour the grounds without permission. Please contact Shawn Baily for more information. If you choose to visit this property without consent from the owner you will be TRESPASSING which is punishable by law. My sincere apologies to the owner of the property for touring the grounds without permission.. it won’t happen again.

In July of 2011 I visited my home state of NH and while I was there I made it a point to go check out Kimball Castle located in the small town of Gilford. This place was amazing to say the least. Looks like some kids had tried to make a haunted house out of it at one point. Found lots of Halloween decorations and props, some star trek books and lots of spiders. The view of the lake was out of this world… what a cool place. Glad I got the chance to see it and document it.

Exterior

Service Entry

Spiders

Kitchen

Stove

Servants Quarters Staircase

Servants Quarters Tub

Living Room

Fake Bats

Living Room Floor

Skeletons in the Closet

Mid-Stair

Room with a View

Don’t Go Down There

West Door

Study Window

The History of Kimball Castle according to www.kimballcastle.com

In 1895 Benjamin Ames Kimball purchased 300 acres on Lockes Hill, set out on Belknap Point. The area had the most spectacular view, incompassing 300 degrees of “The Broads” of Lake Winnipesaukee. When the Lady of the Lake retired to let the Mt. Washington reign as the fastest boat on the lake, she was anchored off Belknap Point to be used as housing for the 100 Italian stone masons building the castle. Materials came from England and Germany via Boston then to Gilford by railroad (English Oak and local granite). It took two years (1897-1899) and $50,000 to complete the project. Along with incomparable views and acres of landscaped gardens, there are stone walls that weave around the property all the way to the water.

Kimball was president of the Concord & Montreal Railroad during an era when there was great upheaval in the industry due to consolidations and mergers. Historians say the building design copies a castle along the Rhine River in Germany that Kimball spotted while on vacation. Kimball spent winters in Concord at the mansion that still stands in front of the Capital Theatre on Main Street. In the summer he moved to Gilford and had a railroad station built down the hill from his property so he could commute to and from work in his private rail car. Kimball died in 1919.

The estate remained with the family until 1960 when Charlotte Kimball, Benjamin’s daughter-in-law and last heir, died. Charlotte stipulated in her will that the property never be used for commercial purposes. She left the estate and several hundred thousand dollars to a charitable foundation with the stipulation that they create a nature preserve on the site. The preserve was never created and in 1981 the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office took control of the land and offered it to the Town of Gilford if they could save the Castle and create the preserve.

Various town committees studied the site for years but voters decided they did not want town money spent restoring the Castle. Finally, the Attorney General threatened to take the property back if the Town did not make some progress. In 1990 the Town convinced the Attorney General that the best way to carry out the goals of Charlotte Kimball’s will was to remove the stipulation against commercial development on the land surrounding the Castle and subdivide it off. The Town then created the Locke’s Hill Nature Preserve on the remaining 260 acres and laid out hiking and skiing trails on it.

Update 8/29/11

For Sarah…

The barn (Carriage house, garage..etc) is about 70-80 yards away from the castle near the entrance of the property.

Interior

This was sketchy… I don’t advise going in there if you ever make it up that way. There’s not much to see in there anyways.

8 Track Lovah

Girl Talk

Audrey Metzger

Indulgence

Living Dead Girl

Patrick Campbell and Damon Fonooni Komposit

]]>