Salvage

This ruined cottage stands beside the old road in Benmore. I happened to be passing it on the day, years ago now, and at the very moment that its roof collapsed, and gradually over the intervening time it's become more and more ruinous. Today, however, it seems to have reached a new stage in its disintegration: all the slates from the roof have been neatly stacked, there are piles of bricks from the broken walls, and a boat is parked in a corner. It seems suddenly less sad.