Up in the hospital last week my dad reminded me that he had a Morandi book that I should take. I had recently emailed him a few photos that I took in Chelsea of some Georgio Morandi paintings in the Zwirner Gallery. He had mentioned this book a few times and I was pretty sure I had already borrowed it and never returned it. I told him as much.
A few posts back I mentioned this new trail in Brighton that runs from the town hall on Elmwood through the woods and meadows to Westfall Road. A big sign at each end identifies it as the Brickyard Trail. This piece of land was saved from over-development because there is standing water on the property. It is not a real wetland. There is only standing water here because the brick makers of yore removed layers of clay leaving big depressions of unporous soil.
My father has long championed Brighton’s vanished brickyards. In fact he has been somewhat of a lone wolf on this subject. He was unable to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the trail and the last time I took him over to the trail he couldn’t get out of the car. But he had me get out to talk to the surveyors to make sure they let someone in the town know if they came across a trolley track or any remnants of the old brick making facility, the one he had been reconstructing in his architectural drawing program.
I was coming home from Saint John’s where my father in in hospice, and I decided to stop and look at the trail. It is as wide as a road now and covered with stone. There is even a bridge over the small creek. I tried to find the old junkyard that I had spotted in my last visit and off to the side of the road I saw a small cluster of antique bottles. The workers had set these aside for my father. I cleaned them up and posed them for a Morandi-like photo and showed it to my dad this morning. He was thrilled.
2 Comments
i love u paul
This is pure beauty… your writing and your photo.