Cantrip De Savor (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Occupying a quarter of a region, Dez Akemi Melomane’s Cantrip De Savor lives up to both of the elements found within its name: it is magical in looks, and a place to be savoured when visiting.

Currently caught in the depths of of winter, it offers an eye-catching retreat from the cares of the wider worlds, edged with a hint of mystery in places. There is plenty for all to enjoy, and the SL photographer is liable to find much to keep him or her occupied, be it in picturing the landscape as a whole, or focusing down on the individual little touches, of which there are plenty awaiting discovery.

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr)



Built around a watery inlet complete with a small island, the land invites visitors to wander the paved road around the edge of the water, away from the run-down gas station and on past the cabin on the hill, the little tea house and store, and the gazebo with its snuggly sofa and cushions, until they come to a hollowed-through tree trunk bridging the water to reach the little island, overlooked by a ramshackle old skiing lodge. On the island sits a charming coffee house, warmly lit and with an outdoor brazier and chairs for the hardy, while beyond it, another bridge leads back to the mainland, where more awaits discovery.

It’s on the east side of the land that the mystery of the place is perhaps most clearly seen, because it is there one will find sections of an old railway track, improperly laid out, incomplete and seemingly forgotten. Alongside them sits the hulking form of an armoured (and armed) stream train, converted to run on tracks of a different kind, a biohazard sign close by giving a stark warning to all who approach. Quite what they mean when taken together is up to the visitor to decide, giving the land an additional narrative to be enjoyed.

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr) – click any image for full size

The beauty of this build is hard to resist – were one even to want to offer resistance. The rural look and feel to the landscape, shielded from the rest of the region by tall rocky cliffs and peaks, offers something of a contradiction to the run-down look and feels to many of the structures occupying it, yet both bind into a visually pleasing whole, which comfortably enfolds the more cosy stopping points, such as the little coffee house and Dez’s little Branch store, which sits tucked unobtrusively into a corner.

This is definitely one to be savoured; there’s far too much magic in the air to pass up on a visit – so why not go see for yourself?

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr) – click any image for full size

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