9. Byrd Island

This Sim is done by LICK Sim designs and it is exquisite. Excuse me if I gush a little but this is the first Sim I have been to (that wasn't an art installation) that I have loved every moment, from the time I landed to the time I regretfully teleported away. The music was laid back and moody which perfectly fit the ambience of this Place. The lighting, the effects….the BIRDS. You just can't help but wonder what happened to the inhabitants of this house.

You teleport in on a jetty overlooking a beautiful bay. As you walk off the jetty you come across an old rickety wooden elevator and a ladder. I chose the ladder and climbed to the top of the sim, turned around and physically gasped in real life. The scene was so….Jane Austen. I wish I'd worn more Austenesque clothes but there was no way I was going to get changed now (That and I don't have any!). Tearing myself away from the view, I walked a short distance and spent some time just sitting on a lovely bench and admiring the view. The sun going down, the muted colours, the gentle music playing in the background…it was just so peaceful.

I walked through fields of long grasses and wildflowers. Sat quietly and watched the birds circling overhead. Explored houses that were beautifully and tastefully decorated in old farmhouse styles and left as if their occupants had just disappeared suddenly.

In one house I had an Edgar Allen Poe moment and had to read "The Raven" all over again...

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, 
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. 
"Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this and nothing more." ~Edgar Allen Poe  

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. Nothing further then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered— Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before— Then the bird said “Nevermore.” ~Edgar Allen Poe

This Sim has been taken down now. Such is the transient nature of some of the most beautiful places in Second life. However, LICK is currently in the process of making a new Sim and I for one can't wait to see it.

Refs:

Poetry Foundation. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/48860