The Signmaker's Dog

I visited with Duncan Ferguson today, he runs Ferguson Signs in a big garage on King St. in Northampton. I asked him what had happened to the Agway store down the street. He said that the new Honda dealership that has sprung up nearby had bought the land--and that it would be flattened to make room for the dealer's new parking lot.

Agway is a favorite store of mine, and many others. It smells like fertilizer, seed and earth. It has so many birdfeeders, and planting devices, and sack upon sack of seeds of every type. Sad to think this once thriving store will be the black asphalt with Hondas on top.

The signmaker has an elegant art. I love the haiku nature of it, having just a few seconds to catch the eye of a highway driver passing by, 24 hours a day. The billboard we are constructing on the Interstate involves a simple message. And a phone number.

Duncan is a soft spoken signmaker, low key, and wore a Red Sox cap as we sat and looked at the screen. He has a old Springer Spaniel who sits beneath him as he uses the computer to finish our rendering. I suggested the slow response from his computer was because it was a a bit out of date.

But, he said, "it's all broken in now."