Day 21 of 365

Birds on a sign

We moved to Clifton in May 2007, and from the first day we exited Route 3 I noticed this old Sam Goody sign rising above a small shopping center. The store itself, however, was empty. It had also housed a Payless Shoes and another small business, but all three were empty. And sometime between Sunday afternoon and this afternoon, the building finally came down.

The other building in the center houses a Mandee and Stop & Shop, but that structure is also getting a makeover. The Stop & Shop closed temporarily just after New Year's Day for renovations and the Mandee is moving to a new building on Route 3, so the entire complex is getting redone.

Thankfully, today had the clear blue skies I was waiting for and I thought to drive by, because the sign might not be there much longer. I wanted a blue sky and late-afternoon sun because I kept seeing this sign in my imagination as a long-forgotten placard in a remote stretch of desert, bleached and faded by the sun.

Mission accomplished.