What was.


A few weeks ago, as winter was fading into spring, I drove by this scene on Route 40 north of Peoria. It was obviously the setting of a home, from days gone by.


 The windmill looked in amazingly good shape. 


The forerunner to the wind turbines that more than dot the Illinois prairie.


It's a lonely tableau, with the road ending near where the house must have stood. 


All kinds of questions: who lived here? When was the house built? When did it get demolished? Why? Did children grow up here? Was it a farm family? Did they put up Christmas decorations? Why is the windmill still standing? Where did the last family who lived here go?


Wouldn't it be nice to have a time machine, if only to see what happened at this spot over the years. 


The last remnants of the home that was.

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