Once Upon Time in Fort Collins

 

It wonder how long it will still be standing? Or will it be renovated. Probably the land is more valuable than the house at this point, given it is a perfect location between campus and what is now called "Old Town". It was built in 1872 accoring to Zillow, which seems right. The town was less than a decade old at that point. I get I could navigate through it today with my eyes closed, although mostly what I remember is the stench of all those meals cooked in the kitchen in the back. The driveway off to left did not go through all the way to the alley but terminated in a small old garage (note the old Bimmer parked there!). The ADA access ramp was added later when it became a business. We used to climb out onto the roof from the window of the master bedroom which is now boarded up. I love how the last business there was a printing company. I spent hours in the room upstairs typing away on a novel I never finished, that was set right in that house, and my ambition was to be a writer. Nobody cared about Palestine back then, I assure you. I can never go back. It's hard even to visit. I already did in 2005, and that was a very tough time and I had to escape again. Now that era of Fort Collins is history. It belongs to other people now, and no place really belongs to me anymore.