(click on photo to enlarge)
The four hour return trip was bearable. The uncertainty of what to expect when we got their was difficult. The early signs were good, buildings still standing but when we got to the gate it was closed with a new sign "Strictly Private Property, sorry no visitors". I said I would do whatever it took to put my flowers on his grave. The first problem was finding a place to park - the main gate area was too small. We pulled into the south entrance where we parked in the driveway of an abandoned house on the property. We waited a few minutes and when no one came out we decided we would see how far we could get, after all on my first trip here when it was a working farm, I never saw a human for over an hour and now the place looked deserted. We walked slowly at first up the long tree lined laneway but the farther we got, the faster we walked. We were almost to the arena and still not a person to be seen. We took one last look back at the car, it was barely visible and no tow truck in sight. A few of the buildings were in rough shape but the place still looked amazing and so serene. We went directly to the graves. I would take my pictures on the way out. We put our single red rose and gerby substitute for a black-eyed susan on his headstone. Mission accomplished. I started snapping photos as we slowly walked away. A person drove up in a car but went right on by without a wave or a comment. We were really taking our time now. It was Linda's first time to see the farm in person, it's too bad she couldn't see it busy with mares and weanlings and yearlings but you could still feel the majesty of the place. As we got to the laneway to take us out to the car we heard a tractor over on the main driveway, he turned toward us ... busted. We told him we were on our way out and just wanted to put some flowers on the grave. He apologized and said he was just doing his job. We had a Windfields police (tractor) escort out of the farm. The thirty minutes we were on the farm seemed like five but we did get to say goodbye and this video contains most of my shots. Goodbye Windfields, rest in peace my little hero.
