Terra Cotta Tile Roof

I know what type of person I am going to be when I am old. I am going to be the type that gives directions by what used to be! (Grin!) I was a little saddened by something today. I was driving home and was on the corner of 6th and B in FS at the light. The little old gas station that used to be on the corner across from St. John's is gone. I haven't been by there in a while...Maybe I have been and had a car full of kids... It made me a little sad. 

I cannot remember a time when the little gas station was actually in use, but you could tell that is what it used to be. Someone with a good sense of style made that little building. It had a Spanish/Mediterranean style that was unexpected yet pleasing. Unexpected because it performed such an everyday task, pleasing because someone thought that even everyday things were worthy of style. I cannot even remember if it was brick or stone, but I am leaning toward stone. What I do remember is the beautiful arched window in front. The garage doors had more panes of glass than they do now and even it looked classier for it. 

The cement that surrounded windows and made up the supports was not the regular dull gray, it was the kind that sparkles when the light hits it as if it has thousands of tiny jewels in it. My favorite part was the roof, it was red terra cotta tile. They weren't flat either, they were curved as if someone had rolled them, cut them and laid them down on an old bottle to fire them. They were graceful and repeated the arch of the window. 


I suppose that the little lot will be put to better use than it was. It will probably be used for parking for Saint John's or some such thing. I remember when the Goldman was torn down to make parking for I.C. Even though it was old, hazardous and probably beyond repair I still felt a twinge. 

It almost hurts to see things that used to be grand in such a state, almost like being shown a picture of a beautiful girl by a old woman. Her skin might be crepe-like with things softly folding and sagging here and there. Her back may have a soft curve to it. Her hair has long since turned gray. Her eyes may have faded a bit, but you can still see the twinkle of the young girl's eye in her own. 


I enjoy progress most of the time but all too often those things that replace them don't have the same style or flair of the old. Beauty in everyday life makes things bearable and it is too bad that more people do not realize that. We need more Mediterranean style gas stations with terra cotta tile roofs in the world! :)

Love,
Shawna