An Unfinished Life; An Unfinished Project

This image dates back to 1969. It is a strange-looking contraption, isn't it? I suppose it is a cross between a gazebo, a pergula and a spaceship! But, the reality is this wooden structure is (or was) the product of my father's vividly artistic imagination.

My family has never been able to figure this structure out. I certainly have no idea if my father meant to "fill-in" the wood with some solid covering or canvas or whatever. All I know is that it looked like this when my father suddenly died in 1970. And it stayed this way until my mother sold our house to its second owner.

The new owners left it alone, rotting away in the backyard until the house was sold, yet again, to its current owner, who tore it down in 2001.

My father was the most creative man I've known and, like most creative men, he didn't share his vision with anyone until it was a finished masterpiece. I guess I am much the same way. (I'll show you when I'm done!!!) It must be the impatient Italian traits we shared.

Unfortunately, like my father's life, this structure never realized its full potential, never completed the life it was meant to have.