the many lives of a brick

A brick is a simple thing. It is a tiny block of hardened, fired clay that is a most basic building material that has been used for thousands of years. I have several around the house and used to have many more. Most of the bricks I have are 2 inches thick, and are a 4 inch by 8 inch rectangle.

Bruce, my neighbor when I lived in Illinois, managed the Streator Brick yard. On one trip to the brick yard in his pick up truck he told me that a brick has many lives. It is made to be used in a construction project. If it is mortored into the building it may serve its usefulness for many years. But if the building is torn down, it often is not discarded in a landfill. Many bricks are cleaned and used for patios, fireplaces, pathways, borders, etc. As a loose brick in cooperation with other bricks it can have many lives, change possession many times, be useful to many generations. Even as a single brick it can serve as a nostalgic decoration, doorstop, paperweight, or collector item, just to name a few.

Old bricks, like the ones which form the building behind my naked Goldwing motorcycle are still serving their purpose as building materials. Somehow the patina of these old bricks is much more pleasing to my photographs than brand new bricks. Old bricks are a beautiful backdrop to movies, wedding pictures, and are limited only by our imagination.

Out in front of my house I have a stone on which my wife painted "Welcome." Holding that stone at just the right angle is a 4x4x8 BARR brick. It had many lives before it came to me.

Incorporated into my landscaping at our previous house was a brick that was hand made in Williamsburg, Virginia. On a visit to the historic village of Williamsburg I was admiring the bricks that were being made there and the workmen told me that I couldn't have one because all the bricks are used in their buildings. Funny thing though, later on, one of the brickmakers found me on the street and handed me a brick, which traveled with me from Virginia to Illinois. What a life.

My neighbor, Bruce made me a brick before I moved from Streator. Right now it holds down my stack of printouts of instructions written by fellow members of NGW Club, on how to fix my naked Goldwing. What a life.