There is not a Christmas that goes by that I do not remember that Christmas morning when there was an electric train clacking around at the base of the Christmas tree- It was the Engine No. 9
My Grandfather was an engineer for the railroad and he shared his love of all things train. This Star Box™ -The Number Nine- is made from an old Firehouse Block - used to keep a Firetruck from rolling backwards. With thoughts of trains and firetrucks comes thoughts of the horses we rode as we attmepted to chase them. At that time in my life, it was the quarter horse I rode that made the best ride, literally! Hobos propped in the open door of an empty rail car laughing at us as we ran full speed bareback chasing a train in a downtown area of a city in Mississippi.
Star Boxes™ like most art evoke memories and emotion for many people. But we think a poem - by Robert Louis Stevenson says it best
From a Railway Carriage
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle :
All the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart run away in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing your art with us Michael Grogan! Michael is an artist and designer. Though he is very private - sometimes he lets a friend in - you can see him on FB from time to time and check out his work. https://www.facebook.com/michael.grogan.79
