Prairie Church

Shortly after setting up my microphone to begin recording in this abandoned community church in southeastern New Mexico, I ventured into the back room to take photographs -- and a giant white barn owl swooped down on me and flew away. The message was clear: what had once provided comfort to Man, Nature was now claiming as its own.

The soundscape clearly shows that transition. The sounds you would expect to hear in such a forlorn place -- creaking floorboards, wailing wind, maybe the ghostly echo of a sermon preached long ago, etc. -- aren't present at all. Instead, birds chirp, cicadas sing, and the desert hums its own beautiful undertone. Quite a contrast to the images of decay and decline! Many of the bird songs, by the way, are coming from inside the church, not out. A couple cars can be heard passing on the nearby road. There's also an odd snapping sound that I can't identify (you can hear it almost immediately when the slideshow starts, and again at times throughout). I promise you I wasn't roaming around snapping my fingers. It must have been the floorboards settling in the noon-time sun.

Speaking of sun, there's also (I think) some kind of Chacoan sundial thing going on here too. I left a note in the slideshow explaining my theory. Tell me what you think when you see it.

I'm sorry that the sound is a bit messed up. The breeze didn't seem bad when I was there, but in fact it was hitting the microphone so heavily as to nearly destroy the recording. I had to edit extensively to cut the blasts, and there's still some shutter left on the sound.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• prairie
• prairie church
• abandoned
• wind
• birds