Old Bricks

 Last month Willie and I were out raking the yard. Now it must be said that raking our yard is a week long project. With thirty-seven trees in the yard, it doesn't go quickly. We raked and raked and raked. At one point, I got a little bored with the whole process.

Between our house and the garage there were two bricks in the ground. Everyday, going to the garage I have passed these two bricks. I figured that they were what was left of a pathway that was once between the two buildings. Having lost all interest in the rake and the activity that surrounded it, I turned my attention to the bricks.

 I dropped the rake where I stood and went over and stared at the bricks. Were they the last two? Were there others still under the the grass? I decided I must find out.

I went to the garage and looked for an appropriate tool for the job. Willie has quite an array of shovels. All have specific jobs and purposes. All looked very useful and capable of handling the project. I looked them over very carefully. I imagined what would happen if I tried to dig up a brick and somehow damaged one of the shovels. I chose to use the garden claw. It seemed the safest choice.

I went back to the two bricks, slammed the claw into the ground, and started digging.

As I dug backward from the bricks toward the house, I found two more bricks. Then two more and two more. Soon I realized that the ground on the right side of the bricks was very soft, and the ground on the left was hard. I dug to the left and found another row of bricks.

I was fascinated. Willie came around the garage, saw me playing in the dirt, in the middle of the yard, looked at the rake on the ground and sighed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Look!" I said excitedly. "There is a walk way under here!"

Willie laughed under his breath, knowing full well I was not going to be raking any more leaves, and went back to his business.

My original purpose, was to just uncover the walk way. As I dug further toward the house the bricks were lower and lower in the ground. Many were as deep as six inches,  with tree roots growing over the top of them. These bricks had been there a very long time. I decided to dig them out of the ground. Maybe I could restore the walkway. Maybe I could use the bricks for something else. Maybe they were antique bricks worth a lot of money! I could sell them and buy a new camera! All of these thoughts went through my mind as I lifted each brick out of the ground.

That night I googled Danville bricks. Each brick has the Danville imprint on them. Well, I pretty much found nothing. My dreams of a new camera dashed, I started thinking about other things I could do with the brick. As did Willie.

Fifty some bricks later, my back tired and arm hurting, I gave up. I stood up, went into the house for a glass of water. I looked down at my feet and realized it was time for a shower.