Aqua

 

Before continuing our journey south with you, J.D. suggested that you might enjoy a post highlighting this wonderful piece of architecture that we had the pleasure of seeing while in Chicago. The name of this 82 story residential skyscraper is 'Aqua'. 

 

Due to the unique design of the balconies for each apartment and the special reflective glass, the building gives the illusion of water/aqua flowing down it's sides. That reflective glass, by the way reduces the need for air conditioning.

 

The Aqua tower was designed by Jeanne Gang. It was the tallest tower ever built by a female architect and was her first high rise project. Aqua also received Emporis' 2009 Skyscraper Award. 

FYI...... a little known fact about me is that my childhood hero was Frank Lloyd Wright and it was my dream to be an architect. While other girls were reading Nancy Drew, I read any book I could find that showcased his designs and spent hours looking at the photos of the many buildings he had designed. When I finally attended a high school that offered an Architecture I class, I signed up for it as an elective class. It became the class project I think, to see how fast my male teacher and his students (all male) could get me to drop the class. Any extra help that I ('THE GIRL') needed was not forth coming from my  teacher or fellow students. That was a time though when it was still pretty much a man's world and females tended to just deal with it. Our purpose in life at that time was to be wives and mothers. Heaven forbid if any of us were to venture out into the job world. If we did, it was to do 'women' jobs like telephone operator, teach, nurse, wait tables, etc. Thank God some of us just refused to sit quietly and accept our lot in life. I applaud Ms. Gang on her design of Aqua and her many architectural accomplishments.

In the mean time, start packing and be ready to head south with us tomorrow. Have a blessed day.

 

The Windy City

 The end of July took us to Chicago to visit J.D.'s youngest daughter, Angela and her husband Nick. We decided to drive since it really isn't that far from us. It proved to be a nice scenic trip and not a real long and tiring one. I especially enjoyed seeing the miles and miles of wind turbines along the way. It did have the look of being futuristic and I thought of all the homes that they were supplying clean energy to. It sure is a far cry from my the days of my childhood and seeing miles and miles of open top railroad cars hauling coal from the Kentucky and West Virginia coal mines. As the train moved along to it's destination, the wind whipped up clouds of coal dust leaving black residue, almost like fingerprint evidence of the lung disease and global warming that would someday result from it. 

As we entered the hustle and bustle of the Windy City I was keeping my fingers crossed and saying little prayers along the way that Maggy (our GPS) wouldn't get her usual attitude going and start sending us off on side trips that we didn't want to take. As we rounded one corner we came to a sudden stop due to road blocks and what looked to be the results of an explosion or a terrorist attack. There were big pieces of buildings spewed all over the street. Later we found out that we had come upon the filming of the newest "Transformers" movie. 

The last time I had been to Chicago was 40 years ago, not even a week after Theresa was born. Her paternal grandfather had been living in Iowa at the time and had passed away following a battle with brain cancer. We were flying there from North Carolina for the funeral. There had been a flight delay leaving Atlanta, which put us into Chicago just late enough to cause us to miss our flight out by minutes. As a result we spent the night at the airport until we could catch a flight out the next morning, on what looked like a toy plane. It's seating capacity was about 10 and as I looked out the window of the plane while we were waiting to take off, I am certain that I saw them winding up rubber bands attached to the propellers.  I think they call them puddle jumpers. On that trip I was not impressed with Chicago in any way, shape or form and I hadn't even left the airport.

Angela did an excellent job as tour guide and hostess. We saw quite a lot of the city during our visit and tasted many of their wonderful foods. My favorite tour of course was the Museum of Art. I am sure that I could have spent a week just roaming the exhibit halls and soaking in all of that rich culture. When I look at art, I don't just see the  piece of artwork in front of me, but also mental visions of it's creator and the hardships endured during the creation. I feel as if I need to memorize every little brush stroke and even the tiniest of lines. To say that I feed my soul would be a pretty accurate description. With that said, you can understand why I would need more time there.

We didn't get to see as much of Nick as we would have liked to while we were there. He was still settling into his new job at BP during that time though. Our visit came to an end and it was Home Sweet Home here we come. I would highly recommend Chicago to anyone wanting to take a trip to a big city. Do they give out "Clean City Awards" ? If so, I nominate Chicago.  

   

Lost And Found

The dreaded cleaning went rather well yesterday. I am sure that the reason for that is because J.D. jumped right in and assisted. Actually he did the majority of the work and was amply rewarded with a skillet of cornbread with his supper. We now have a clean and cozy little corner of the kitchen where we can retreat in the chilly months to come to be creative or entertained, depending on the mood of the moment.

The really good news is that I did find my muse. She was hiding amongst the tangle of electrical wires and a mountain of dust bunnies. She almost got swept up with the vacuum, but was saved when I saw her wings flutter. So all is good and we are back in business. 

Tomorrow, I will begin trying to catch you up on all that has happened since I strayed from Moodscapes. Those that follow me on Face Book are pretty much up to date on this information, but I have found that as quickly as Face Book moves along, it is still easy to miss things. 

Happy Cyber Monday everyone. Wishing you a day filled with blessings too numerous to count.   

 

........ and the beat goes on

To say that I took a little break from blogging would be an understatement. A lot of time has passed since I last posted and it has been a very eventful year here on the ridge. Over the past months I have thought about sitting down and sharing my thoughts and the events in my life, but kept putting it aside. The urge struck me this morning to dust the cob webs from my brain cells and get these fingers busy typing.  With that started, the next task is to find and dust off my muse and organize my work area.

The many changes that seems to have taken place on blogger didn't slip past me without notice. When I signed on the thought did go through my mind........ "Hmmmm, I wonder if I am going to remember how this all works." We will be finding that out in the days to come. 

......... and hey it's good to be back home again!

Summer Time.............

It has been a long time I know! I am still alive and well on J.D.'s mountain and still kicking. Since I last posted I have finished my therapy and received an "  Atta Girl"   from my doctor. The knee replacement, healing and recovery time went so well that we are going to do it all over again on September 13th. My right knee is just as bad as the left knee was just not quite as painful. Riley thinks it is really cool that I will have matching gnarly scars. 

 

We sold our camper a few years ago when the gas prices were so high and bought a car that would be easier on gas than the truck is. We have both missed having a camper so we bought another one.  The idea being that with the camper we can take Paddy with us when we travel instead of having to put her in a kennel. Our plan is to go visit the youngest of the rebel children who is living in Chicago later this month. We will come home and rest up a little bit and head south to Louisiana and Texas to visit with the rest of the family. We will get an opportunity to see how well Paddy is going to travel.

When we get all of our traveling out of the way we will be busy putting the house up for sale. Yes, you heard me right.............. We are going to sell our home here on J.D's mountain. It is just getting to be too much for J.D. to handle. In the winter it is hauling all of the wood for the wood stoves and then keeping up with the yard maintenance all summer. Of course we need to take into consideration that we are getting older ( I know it is hard to believe that, but it is true) and it is at least a 30 minute drive in any direction to medical care. We really need to move to town or at least closer to town. We will have our work cut out for us. It is amazing how much a person can accumulate in just 6 years. If we sell this house before finding some place else to buy, we can always park the camper at a RV Park and live out of it for a while.

You may not hear from me for a while as we are traveling around, but I promise to touch base when ever I can. May your guardian angel watch over you, keep you safe and sprinkle you with many blessings as you enjoy this beautiful season full of breath taking sights, sounds and smells.