it is decidedly so that i find myself wandering in the nomadic regions of south-central illinois. life is scarce and i rarely see other beings. i see small forms like life like ground squirrels and rabbits. the deer have not yet begun migrations. i sought shelter in an old barn earlier today during one of the frequent acid rain storms. the tin ceiling of the barn was leaky in areas and i could see the erosion and discoloration from the points of contact. after the rainstorm had passed i left the barn and walked 15 miles toward the old town of Kemp. as i strolled down the main street i found most of the building to be fairly open. i entered a brick building and found the furnishings to be quite pristine. although when touched the draped crumbled and fell to the floor with a billowing cloud of ash dust. i acquired an understanding of the purpose of the building. the oscillating rack was used for hanging clothes. there was still 3 suits that were left on the rack. across the street were residential houses and a sparsely wooded park with benches and public grills. a swing-set was seen but each seat was missing. the grass was scrubby and not flourishing well. throughout the whole downtown road, fissures had formed and grasses had sprouting from each crevice all down the road. roofs were sagging lazily all down the main strip of the old businesses. toward the west end of town a few had completely collapsed with only the shell of bricks left keeping and edge to the sky. to the north i could see a large greenhouse. the inside looked like it could possibly have life in it. under closer inspection i could see that it did. in the soil processing part i could see that grasses had sprouted on the mound. various succulent plants had taken a liking to the climate inside the structure and had overtaken the brick walkways. the sprinklers were on an automatic timer that was powered by solar panels. there was no water though to be fed to the plants by this method though. an alternate method was used to supply the humidity to the complex. a passive evaporative filtration system pumped in the humid hair that allowed the plants to keep thriving. dusk began to set in and i found myself ready to go on standby..