#SciFriday

Challenge 22 - Power plant

September 27th, 2015

Today I went jogging with Gosh. He was putting on weight lately and I know that big dogs like him need a lot of movement. So I decided to take up jogging again. I actually bought a new pair of sneakers, they come in bright pink and blue this season - amazing.
Anyway, there is a reason I'm writing this down, and it's not the colours of my sneakers. I took the forest path, the one that starts south of the house and leads down to the river. Normally I prefer just walking along the road to the village. But today I felt the need to do something a bit more demanding, to exercise. At the point where the path joins the old factory road, before turning to the right, Gosh got exited. I originally wanted to cross the bridge and take the cyclists trail back home. But Gosh seemed so intent on following the old road I decided to let him have his head.
I don't like running on roads but this one wasn't used for at least a decade. The surface is covered with dead leaves and grass starts growing in the cracks.
A bit further down we reached the fenced-in area of the factory. I'm not sure what they actually built or made there. It closed down years before I came to live here. Rosie insists they produced chemicals, some secret ingredients for cosmetics. But Rosie owns a name for telling fat stories. Clark from the petrol station claims to have worked there at some point, but he told me he only drove the delivery van. Obviously he never asked what exactly he delivered. And then there's Terrence. When I asked him he mumbled something about machine parts for generators. "Officially", he said, and added something about forbidden genetics. But he wouldn't elaborate. All in all, the factory remains a mystery to me. Could have been a private school for all I know. Today, the only thing that still stands are some bleak concrete buildings with broken windows and corrugated iron roofs covered in rust.
As I jogged along the fence something caught my eye. Where last year there were only naked walls I could now see a lot of dark green patches. Plants clung to the facades, giving the derelict buildings the look of some mysterious overgrown old castle.
At the time I thought nothing of it and took Gosh all the way down to the railroad bridge. It's only there that I realised that the crossing is closed for pedestrians. I should have known, the debate in the papers about the inconvenience of the construction site has been going on for weeks. So I had no choice but turning the same way back. I even remember thinking that this would allow me another glimpse of the factory-castle in the golden evening light.
When we reached the fence, Gosh and me stopped in our tracks. The buildings had changed. Or, maybe, not the buildings, but their plant cover. It seemed denser, greener, more complete. There was hardly any concrete visible anymore. While it looked like a castle beforehand, now it was definitely something out of a fairy tale. Probably it was just the light or the angle or something. But I think I'll have to go back next weekend with my sketchbook. Well, I'll probably bring my whole painting stuff, I think this might be a worthy challenge for my skills as well as my imagination. And just around the corner!

October 2nd, 2015

Today I made good on my promise to myself and went back down to the factory, or the castle, as I started calling it in my mind. Gosh was happy to be out and bounced ahead. Suddenly I heard him barking. This is rather unusual and I tried to call him back. In vain, but that's needless to say. Well, when I finally caught sight of the factory, I could absolutely understand him.
Only days ago there were three more or less intact buildings. Today we found only ruins. The plants covered them completely. The whole site looked like one of those really ancient places. Two of the houses had collapsed, what remained was overgrown rubble. Only one corner of the third one was still standing. While I stood there and watched the rest of the roof broke down, followed by part of the wall.
I picked up my bag in a hurry - I never realised I'd let it fall - and then I saw what Gosh was staring at, snarling. In front of us was the fence of the factory area. It consisted of iron mesh set in a low concrete wall. The concrete was overgrown with the heart-shaped leaves of common ivy. Or that's what I thought at first. Then I saw the ivy move. With its small leg-like roots the tendril right in front of me crawled over a patch of rather healthy looking concrete. Then it dug its roots in. Only moments later this part of the wall started to crumble. Soon there was nothing left but some grey dust, a little rubble and the tendril moving onward, searching for another piece of wall.
I took Gosh on leash, grabbed my bag and folding chair and hurried back home. Now, some hours, three cups of tea and a shot of whiskey later I can't help wondering what these plants will do as soon as there's nothing of the factory left. Behind the forest lies the power plant. They insist it's safe, that nothing short of an asteroid impact can penetrate the protective casing of the reactor.
But I wonder ... Isn't it made of concrete?