
Walking the Railpath the other day, Toronto’s Colombo and I wondered about a concrete box bearing graffiti spray and a plaque. Hilary’s Shed. What’s it for? Who is Hilary? And what the heck does “aporia” mean? The word is sprayed on at least twice. Colombo’s a word man; aporia tickled his memory but refused to identify itself fully.
First, it’s a garden shed… presumably holding tools for guerrilla gardeners who work the Railpath Park. Hilary is Hilary Bell, a woman who had a lot to do with getting the Railpath Park to be a reality. Obviously, she was much loved by many members of her community. She has passed away now, but knew that the garden shed would be named after her. It was her idea to call the edifice a “shed”. Unpretentious…informal. I would have liked Hilary.
The lower left quadrant of the illustration above shows the shed on grand opening day , one year ago. It hasn’t been tagged yet.
Now that word… aporia. Imagine my surprise when I looked up the definition a found myself staring at a non-Torontonian Columbo.
2 comments
Comments are closed.
Hilary Bell was involved in creating Railpath, the natural garden along Dundas, the murals under the Wallace Bridge.
Thanks for the research, Joni.