Keepsakes in Ruins

 

Archibald Mill, Dundas, MN from the city web-site 

John Stilgo writes in his Common Landscape about the presence of ruins.  While we have some rather near to us, just up-river (or along the bike path) in Dundas, as Americans we have rather fewer ruins that in some other nations.  When students and I travel to Greece and Turkey some Januarys, there comes a point when even the keenest historian feels a bit "ruined out."  So, while I'm interested in his assertion (p. 342) that "The surviving keepsake together constitute the vestiges of landscape that still serve Americans as the standard by which new form is judged,"  I also think that we are enamored by novelty.  There are exceptions, but very often we'll tear down the old and build something new in our pursuit of something better.  Perhaps also as a mode of self-expression.  Certainly we learn to "read" one another's houses, yards, etc.

That said, I also notice that Stilgo dwells on a some what different impulse, namely to modify.  On this point see my post from August about my trip to Southern California.  Yes, I had read this piece before my trip, but no I didn't realize that my observations were in line with it.

I'm left wondering about this American Dream of a BETTER life.  How often is better a matter of modification or improvement and how often of replacement?  This question is not exhausted by attention to houses; it also encompasses jobs, communities, hobbies, and relationships.  Listen to campaign rhetoric.