bauxite

Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again…

The first line from one of my favorite books—Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Oddly appropriate: a book that starts with a young, confused woman who flees everything she knows—and ends with a grand old building in flames.

My previous entry about this will eventually scroll. For when that happens, here are three pictures:

Fire destroyed the main building of Bauxite High School on January 5, 2001.  

(I am not the photographer, and I do not know who was.  This was sent to me.)Fire destroys Bauxite High School
Major efforts were taken to save the main Bauxite High School building from flames when it burned on January 5, 2001. 

(I am not the photographer, and I do not know who was.  This was sent to me.)Attempts to save Bauxite High School building
This was my high school, which was destroyed by fire on January 5, 2001.


(I am not the photographer, and I do not know who was.  This was sent to me.)Bauxite High School building in flames

Let me tell you what it was like to grow up in this place: Bauxite, currently population ~400. So named for the bauxite ore that was available in the area. It became a boom town in World War II. Bauxite, you may remember, is the ore from which aluminum is made—aluminum that was made into lightweight planes that helped win that war.

A requiem for a building burned

Let me sing a requiem for a place I loved and hated; hated for its pain and loved for its family memories.

This was my high school, which was destroyed by fire on January 5, 2001.


(I am not the photographer, and I do not know who was.  This was sent to me.)Bauxite High School building in flames

second photo, thirdphoto

This was the main building for a very small school. Given that my graduating class had 33 people in it, I think you can quickly understand that what you're seeing is the destruction of an entire school.

Sayonara, you old building, steeped with memories. You went down with quite a fight, it seems. There is, apparently, more truth than I expected in the statement "You can't go home again."