All posts tagged: Random DJB Thoughts

With Liz and Dave at the Twins game 08 05 14

Main Street, baseball, and rhubarb crisp (?)

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Main Streets and baseball. What could be more American? More  importantly, can you have a bad day when these two things converge?  Not in my book. But how did the rhubarb crisp replace apple pie?  Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out. We began our first Tuesday – Day 5 on the Not All Who Wander Are Lost cross-country tour – in tiny Spring Green, Wisconsin. For a town of 1400 (I love town signs that post the population), Spring Green had much to offer.  The downtown has a variety of interesting shops and services, and my friend Oakley Pearson – who drives through this area each year on his way home to Minnesota – recommended the Spring Green General Store for breakfast.  Claire and I took him up on that recommendation, and after a great bowl of oatmeal (see, we can eat healthy food), we’re glad we did. Business was hopping with a great mix of patrons. I stopped by one table to tell the guy wearing the 1952 Vincent Black …

Hillside detail at Taliesin

A remarkable afternoon at Taliesin

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Some days on the road are magical. Yesterday — spent at Frank Lloyd Wright‘s Taliesin — was one such afternoon. Our cross-country road trip includes a couple of places that are clearly what one could tag as a busman’s holiday. Thanks to the generous offer of my good friend Jeff Grip of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Claire and I were met at Taliesin – Wright’s Spring Green, Wisconsin, home – by Effi Casey, a member of the Taliesin Fellowship; a graduate of the architecture school at Taliesin; the widow of the long-time dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, Tom Casey; and an accomplished violinist who serves as the Director of Music at the school. We were also joined for the afternoon by Floyd Hamblen, a member of the Taliesin Fellowship who serves on the faculty of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, is a practicing architect, and lives year-round with his family at Taliesin. I’m pictured with the two of them inside Effi’s home on the grounds, known locally as …

Inside the Bean

From the silly to the sublime

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Today we played tourist in Chicago – a great city with way too much to see in one lifetime, let alone one day. Work takes me to Chicago three or four times a year, so with the exception of a 90-minute architectural tour taken by boat on the Chicago River – something everyone should do once (or more) in their lives – I turned Sunday over to Claire’s interests. We left Aunt Susan and Cousin Zoe’s home in Evanston and took the CTA ‘L’ train into the city.  When we stepped out from the below-ground station at Lake, Claire started looking around and said, “This feels like New York.” What she meant as a first time  visitor was that the crush of people, the canyon walls of buildings, and the energy felt like a big city. The pep in her step was quickly evident, as we headed out to Millennium Park. Why Millennium Park?  Because what self-respecting tourist to Chicago these days doesn’t want to take a selfie at Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (or – …

Observations from the road: First edition

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John Kennedy once famously observed that Washington, DC, was a city with “Southern efficiency and Northern charm.” As a native Southerner, I believe that the geniuses who run the Ohio Turnpike will give those of us from the South a run for our money when it comes to inefficiency! But hold that thought…I am getting ahead of myself. On past travels chronicled on More to Come… I have taken short observations that don’t deserve full blog posts (some might say they shouldn’t be uttered in any forum) and strung them together as Observations from the Road.  I can already tell, after two days, that there will be a number of these on our cross-country trip.  So here I go with the first edition.  Read on at your own discretion…you’ve been warned. Wondering about the origin of words and phrases ain’t what it use to be – While driving through Pennsylvania yesterday, Claire asked “Where did the term ‘Bucket List’ originate?” Years ago, when you had a question where you weren’t absolutely certain of the answer, …

California or Bust

Taking the long way

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California or bust! We had barely slipped the bonds of the beltway as we began our Not All Who Wander Are Lost tour when the Dixie Chicks tune The Long Way Around popped up on Claire’s playlist.  We both laughed and agreed it was a good omen for our less-than-direct trip to Southern California. Today was the day to hit the ground running and make it to Cleveland.  Almost six hours of driving lay ahead of us, and we wanted to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, spend time with my colleague Kathleen Crowther and her husband Herb, and take in a Cleveland Indians game. We didn’t make any stops, but we did see our first set of absurd billboards.  As we crossed  the state line into Pennsylvania, a series of ads from the state’s coal and energy producers sprang up touting the benefits of “clean coal.”  Who knew?! The best was the billboard that asked, “Would You Take Energy Advice from Someone in a Meat Dress?” alongside a ridiculous picture of Lady …

Not All Who Wander Tour 2014

Not all who wander are lost: The tour

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I have always wanted to drive cross-country. So when Claire left for college in California as a freshman in the fall of 2011, I told her about my bucket list dream and promised that one of her trips from Washington (the east coast one) to California would take place in a car with her dad. Guess who begins her senior year at the end of August?  And guess who passes a major birthday milestone next winter? With those deadlines looming, we leave on our drive tomorrow, August 1st.  It was now or never. And we are pumped about this trip! As we’d both driven much of the “southern” (i.e., direct) route in shorter trips, we decided to wander around a bit in the Midwest, the Great Plains, and the Pacific Northwest before we finally make our way to Southern California.  I’ve dubbed it our Not All Who Wander Are Lost tour.  I just wish I’d thought ahead to have t-shirts made!  (Cue the eye rolling by Claire.) So over the next 20 days, you’ll get …

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

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  Today – June 30th – was the 64th anniversary of the day my parents were married. I just hung up the phone from talking to my Dad, who turns 89 this Saturday (July 5th).  Since Mom died in 1998, I’ve always tried to call him on their anniversary, just to let him know I’m thinking of him. I’m so glad I reached him tonight. When he answered the phone, I asked him how he was doing.  “Oh fine,” he answered.  “Today is my anniversary.” “I know,” I replied.  “That’s why I’m calling.” He went on to tell me that he drove over to Franklin, Tennessee, today. By himself.  Mom and Dad both grew up in this wonderful town, and they were married in the old Baptist (now Presbyterian) Church downtown. “What did you do there?” I asked. “Oh, just went by the church.  It was locked up, so I just sat outside and reminisced.  Then I went over to McDonald’s for a cup of coffee and reminisced some more.” “Well,” I said, as I …

How to Lower Your Blood Pressure

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When it comes to the Washington Nationals, I’ve figured out how to lower my blood pressure: simply stop watching the game (or leave, as was the case last night) before Rafael Soriano comes out to “save” the ninth! I am NOT a fan of leaving the game early, but Soriano’s brushes with disaster in the ninth inning are becoming much too predictable – and too hard on my heart!  Last night’s game was a case in point. Candice and I strolled into Nationals Park on a picture perfect Friday evening.  The surprises began as we walked in the gate:  who knew it was Wilson Ramos bobble head night?!  So in the man cave I now have The Buffalo, down in his crouch, ready to catch a pitch from my Stephen Strasburg bobble head!  (And with former Nat Michael Morse – the Beast – in the on-deck circle, among others.) In a break from tradition this year, the Nats jumped out early against the Mets, with a three-run first.  Young Tanner Roark was pitching a masterful …

Church in the old city of Stockholm March 2014

Beautiful Stockholm

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Our trip to Scandinavia last month ended with Andrew joining Candice and me for four days in Stockholm.  While Claire (who had to head back to school) visited the city a couple of years ago, it was the  first time for the three of us. We were not disappointed. Candice had booked us in a small boutique hotel in the heart of the old city, just steps from the Royal Palace and the Cathedral.  That proved to be a perfect launching point for our explorations. We knew we wanted to follow-up on our visit to the design museum in Copenhagen with a visit to the Swedish design museum. After walking over to an adjacent island (see Andrew and Candice on the bridge, with the Cathedral and Royal Palace in the background), we spent the better part of a day at the design museum and adjacent modern art museum, Moderna Museet.   We were all enthralled with Blockholm — The Fantastic City, a project where everyone was invited to rebuild Stockholm using the Minecraft computer game. The Moderna Museet collection …