Take Out the Trash Day

Autopsy Photos of a Dead Town - Part One

Seaton Ball Diamond

When we were kids there were places that were alive in our small village of Seaton. The post office, Bill's Texaco station, the bank and the grain elevator. Before that it was the restaurant. Before that it was the grocery store. All gone now. There was also the ball diamond and our softball team in the Church League. Bro Phil played center field, I played left field, and the Wombie was the catcher. herb was our manager.

Right after school was out we'd meet up here and practice for the coming season. Dave, Randy, Ivan, Jeff and Jeff, and Cole. One year we even had a Japanese kid who was learning farming from the Duncan's.

Marj would park her car as close to the action as she could and honk whenever we scored or her boys did anything good. This was where we went to grade school but the building was abandoned after consolidation with Aledo and torn down. This was where Mark got hit in the mouth with an errant practice pitch when he was a kid. I still remember sitting in the back seat with him on the way to see a new dentist in Monmouth. Why did my folks think that was a good idea?

They don't play ball anymore up here. They put up new lights, new fences, bleachers, scoreboard and food stand and everyone stopped playing. All of the stores in town are gone now. The church, what's left of it is on life support and the ball diamond is weedy and forgotten.

This is small town America.

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