Improve your Silage

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When we think of a Silo do we think of a unit in which free flowing goods such as grain are stored or do we usually think of some tube beneath the ground somewhere in one of those square states in the West out of which our nuclear missiles might one day launch? The answer is neither.

We are parked at the foot of a concrete silo at Rocks Pond Campground, an edifice which stands in stark contrast to the autumnal trees and the gazebo at the banks of Lake Marion in the background. You don't see a lot of concrete silos anymore unless you cruise the secondary roads of the double secret circuit of byways in very rural South Carolina. The keepers of the campground have left this old concrete silo in place perhaps as a gesture to the past, a piece of educational architecture for visiting families. More likely they didn't tear it down simply because nobody's going to pull it down for free nor will someone haul off the debris just for fun. Besides, they don't seem to need anymore rip-rap at the water's edge. We don't know.

There are many warning signs at Rocks Pond, orders from headquarters as to what is prohibited and what is required of visitors. They were not erected all at once and are likely responses to a wide variety of mischief visited upon the grounds and structures by unmonitored children at play or unhinged adults after extended cocktail hours. In this case all are asked to refrain from tossing trash into the silo. This seems necessary since the gaping hole in the silo almost begs to receive the campers' refuse. It also looks like a mighty good place to burn the stuff. It's too inviting. It may be a trap.

Silage is the stuff stored in silos which is often fermented grain intended as fodder for ruminant creatures. The management doesn't want folks to ferment any beer cans, second hand diapers, old newspapers or new potatoes in their free standing concrete silo, a sound policy with which we agree.

Even after exploring the campground's oddly diverse appointments, the question still remains as to why this strange thing remains. Especially when no one is about the property, the mind tends to wander. We thought of the unexplained black obelisk in the movie, 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY. Maybe this thing has some special place in this universe which cannot be known and must not be disturbed. We remember what happened in the movie to those guys who fooled around with the obelisk. The keepers of the grounds may just be trying to save us from a similar fate. Whatever the reason, this silo is part of the strange beauty of Rocks Pond, the campground from another planet.