Archived from the old site circa 2002.

As promised, I have photos of the roses in bloom here on the Rose Red property! If you recall from my May journal entries, the roses began blooming eerily early, which only piqued my curiosity about the passages in Ellen’s diary in which Sukeena somehow controlled the vegitation on the property.

Both these photos were taken last week in the quad / garden behind the complex. Of course the landscapers had to pick red roses, but I doubt they expected them to be in full bloom so quickly.

Strangest thing is, I cut a few of the roses and brought them up to place in my antique crystal bowl (that belonged to Ellen), and they began to die almost immediately after I’d cut them. It was like they withered in my hands. By morning the next day their petals were falling off!

Trellice in full bloom, already:

I dreamed of Nick on Friday night. I dreamed that he and I were walking hand-in-hand through the forest paths behind the complex. We stopped at the fountain (where the statue of Ellen once stood) and stood quietly, gazing into each other’s eyes. That was it, the whole dream was just a blur of his gorgeous eyes…and I woke feeling warm and fuzzy, though the feeling didn’t last long. When it dawned on me that it was just a dream I felt lonely, and frightened.

You’ve all been so kind with your words of hope and compassion, and encouragement, in my e-mail and guestbook. Feeling the outpouring of love from around the world, from total strangers, is a real source of strength.

Keep your eyes pealed for further journal entries this month, as I’ve got some exciting news! A local collector contacted me in e-mail the other day, and here’s what he had to say:

Ally,

My name is George Weaver, and I’m an avid collector of music boxes. I particularly enjoy collecting historic music boxes from Western Europe–so you can imagine how pleased I was when I managed to get my hands on an intricately carved box manufactured in the late 19th century in Belgium.

About fifteen years ago I had just moved to the Seattle area from Utah. The first day I had any time to myself, I immediately hit the antique shops in search of music boxes. I stopped in a small pawn shop that looked like it had some interesting antiques in the window, and that’s where I found the aforementioned box from Belgium.

I asked the shopkeep where he’d managed to find such a unique piece, and he told me that a few years earlier a woman came in with a small child to sell some nice items she said belonged to her family. They were mostly trinkets from Europe and Africa, obviously obtained on a trip or imported.

Since the woman wished to remain anonymous no one was really sure to which family the box belonged, and the woman never came back to collect it. It had been on pawn those few years before I found it, most likely because no one except a collector would really recognise its value. I picked it up for $35, which was a steal. I estimate its current worth to be about $7200.

Anyway, you’re probably asking what all this has to do with you. Living in Seattle these past 15 years and getting to know local legend and lore, I began to suspect my music box might have come from the Rimbauer estate. I knew of no other treasure trove of imported antiques of that caliber in the entire city, so all I could imagine was that the woman who pawned it had somehow stolen it from the Rimbauer property. A maid perhaps? Wife of the groundskeep?

It wasn’t until I flipped through the channels and stumbled upon the miniseries that I realised my music box most likely is a genuine Rimbauer artefact. I’m not sure which excites me more–owning a piece of the Rimbauer family history, or owning a $7200 Belgian collectible.

What struck me even more was the theme music in the documentary. It is almost exactly like the music my box plays! Thankfully my box still plays, though I am hesitant to run it much due to its age and fragility. I will be running it long enough to capture the song on tape, and then composing a simple MIDI file you can post here on your site. Maybe some Rose-Red / Rimbauer-Phile visitors will enjoy hearing it!

All the best to you. I’ll be in touch soon.

George Weaver

…so in a future journal I’ll be posting the music box MIDI file for you to hear. Check back soon!

(Note: Unfortunately, the MIDI file was lost when the old server crashed, and I have not been able to get in touch with Mr. Weaver to get another copy.)

Posted in: Archive, Personal, Photos | |
Post tags: ellen, nick, Photos, rose, sukeena

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