And there was the house! Now, I know it was built as much as an architectural passion project for Ray as it was a family home, but it was pretty darn cool. He partnered with a local architect from Germany, which gave us a whole family of new friends. We all helped with the landscaping, paint-buckets in hand, moving mountains of dirt, sand, and gravel—that part was actually fun.
Clearing the woods of dead trees while dodging poison ivy, not so much. But we had woods! Seven and a half acres of tall pines, birch, cedar, maple and more. Exploring was a fun weekend activity. There was a cave created when a huge granite boulder was split by natural events. And Kaline found a stream near the end of the property. When we stood down there we could just see the brick walls of the Veteran's Administration Hospital through the woods.
Ray named the property "The Boulders". They were everywhere, a monument to the violence of the receding glaciers from uncountable time before.
This house was big enough for all of us, which I only came to appreciate after visiting other large families who were jammed into their conventional cottage homes. The large living room was open with the dining room, with a grand piano (or two), beautiful colored glass bottles and objects in the window slots, and large picture windows looking out on the 7 ½ acres of woods.
There was a working fireplace, and in the summer, we'd open up the sliding glass doors and even chipmunks might venture into our family room for a look around.
The courtyard was the setting of our summer performance of The Tempest, written by the Bard, adapted for kids by Aunt Kitty, and directed by Marion.
At least once in my childhood, Ray helped us all climb up on the then-flat roof of the house to view the eclipse of the moon. Wrapped in blankets and huffing clouds of breath, we shared the wonder of the Universe.
YOU ARE READING
Gifts From My Dad
Non-FictionA tribute to my father, Carroll Raymond Bryan, Jr. This bit of writing is my gift to my father who passed from this world three weeks ago. It is about art and love, and anything that is not up to that measure will not be found here. Author, artist...
