Glorious Efforts


glorious renkert building, originally uploaded by redbaerd.

I live in a shitty little town in Ohio, and (as is the case in every shitty little town everywhere) many of the inhabitants of this town often seek to - through effort or effusiveness - render their shitty little existence into something more....glorious.

This particular building seems like an outstanding example of this impulse. The story is that a local brick-paver magnate who lived here in Canton, Ohio decide to build a sky-scraper right here in his own town. In 1910, people didn't build skyscrapers in smalltown Ohio. And people definitely didn't build skyscrapers out of brick pavers! Absurd!
Absurd or not, he built it. And its lines and modernism and clarity of vision and purpose? On a sunny day in this shitty little town? Actually still feel a little inspiring.

The first time I heard the building referred to as a "skyscraper" I laughed of course. It's not even the tallest building in Canton. But when contextualized in the moment when it happened, it actually is a little bit impressive.

And on the evening that I was walking around town trying to capture and chronicle the dimensions of my shitty little town with my shitty little camera phone and I walked around the corner and saw this moment, it was a good reminder.

Finding the beauty in whichever shitty little corner you find yourself in -- is a worthwhile and (sometimes) life-giving endeavor.

Comments

...that's a shitty thing to say about Canton.

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