Double Decked Out – and Celebratin’

Double Decked Plant

Double Decked Plant ©2008 Bo Mackison

Like this plant, I’m double decked out and just ready to set bloom on a new adventure. I have all my gear packed and the camping stuff assembled, and I’ve turned over the care of my house and cat to two of my kids. In a few short hours my husband and I will be on the open road in search of adventure. Sixteen days away from the daily routines (and not so routines) and off to explore.

We’re leaving the Midwest and making a 4000 mile trek from Wisconsin to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico – and visiting some great National Parks along the way – Arches, Canyonlands, Great Sand Dunes, plus quite a few others. (We’ve had this trip planned a long time, and decided to go even with the price of gas. Thank goodness it has dropped by 60 cents a gallon in the last few months).

We have plans to visit a cousin of mine I haven’t seen in ages, meet my writing coach – a woman I have worked with for over a year by phone, but this will be our first face to face encounter – and have lunch with a blogging buddy, too.

I will be light on visiting blogs, though I’ll have my computer with me to download my photographs so I’ll probably check out how pervasive Wifi really is. Especially if we run into any rain. I’m sure there are coffee shops most anywhere with internet – even near the red rock canyons or on the outskirts of the Sonoran desert. But then again, maybe not.

I’ve used the magic of WordPress and my daily photo and rambling words will keep popping up. I mark a special anniversary tomorrow, and I have that post ready to go, as I wanted to think about what I was going to write. Not write it on the run.

So, while I’ll be hanging around, I won’t be hanging around as usual. I’m hoping for good driving, decent weather, (I’ve packed everything from long underwear and winter outerwear to swimming suit and tank tops), my maps are marked. And so we are off.

Yippee! Vacation is finally here. Bye.

The Tribune Tower and a Few History Lessons

The Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue in Chicago is one of my favorite buildings. Yes – it’s a great building.The architects won a huge contest in 1922 for designing, as the contest requested, “the most beautiful and distinctive office building in the world.”  The Tribune newspaper publishers were serious – they offered a $100,000 prize. The building is a combination of the medieval and the modern. And though the building is quite remarkable, mostly I love it for the quirky stones embedded in the exterior walls that are from famous buildings and historic structures around the world. Pieces from more than 30 countries and all 50 states are represented.

Rock of Peter

Rock of Peter ©2008 Bo Mackison

Yes, I know these rocks and bricks don’t make for grand photos, but I am so totally taken with the very idea of journalists bringing back these kinds of artifacts to their boss – just so he could mount them on his building. The claim is that they were all obtained by appropriate methods, but who really knows. Imagine asking the Pope for a piece of the Dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral!

The story goes that the Tribune’s Rome correspondent informed Colonel McCormick, longtime editor and publisher, that the above stone was obtained from the Pope’s apartment “due to the fact that repairs were being made.” Oh. Okay.

The stone does come from the largest and one of the most widely known Christian churches in the world which took 181 years to build (1445-1626). The dome itself was built from 1573-90, and designed by Michelangelo who died in 1564.  This is really quite the artifact.

Tribune Tower Historical Stone

Tribune Tower Historical Stones ©2008 Bo Mackison

New Hampshire is represented by this brick from Fort William and Mary in New Castle. The fort, built in 1704-05, was one of the first forts involved in the new country’s struggle for independence in December of 1774.

I managed to take photos of about 80% of the stones. Some were just too high for me to photograph. Looks like there may be a few Tribune Tower posts in the next few months. Seems like something I would like to document. I can’t find much information about them anywhere on the internet.

Hello from Chicago!

Chicago postcard

Chicago Postcard ©2008 Bo Mackison

Spent a few fun days in Chicago recently. My eldest kiddo has lived half way across the country for the last six years – three years teaching in a high school in NYC and then three years going back to school for another degree once she realized she didn’t really want to teach for forty more years. And so now it’s time for job interviews. She just had several in Chicago.

Chicago is just a drive across the state line and then a few more miles from home. Sure beats traveling to and from New York. The last time we visited, we had a noon flight out of LaGuardia and finally flew out about ten the next morning. And no, the weather was fine. I won’t even try to rationalize why our trip took nearly 36 hours instead of six! There was no rational reason, though we heard a lot of excuses.

So I have my fingers crossed – my toes crossed, too – for a great job offer in Chicago.

Iowa Sculpture

Corncob Sculpture

Corn Sculpture ©2008 Bo Mackison

You never quite know what you are going to see while driving down the highway in Iowa. Near Iowa City, I came across this interesting metal sculpture of – yes, of course – a yellow cob of corn in a green husk.

Because of popular request, I have asked Robin of Bountiful Healing to share her links for interesting vegetables and fruits, too. Always aiming to please and keep the customers happy.

So, yes, Robin has graciously supplied me with the site to her “veg porn” as it is lovingly called.

First the asparagus – you have to look for the second photo.

And if you still are curious, then there are flowers that also got in the act.

So there…enjoy. Robin has a lot of other great photos to see, so while you are there, explore a bit.

Red Sumac

Smooth Sumac

Smooth Sumac © 2008

Sumacs are famous for their red foliage and fruits throughout much of autumn.  The fruits remain over winter and even throughout the following spring, providing much needed winter food for birds. It’s not that the birds are particularly fond of the berries (the berries are really drupes as they have a pit, not a seed), but that it is one of the few available foods. Moose and deer, however, are more than happy to chomp on the foliage and fruits, and often crop the bushes quite close to the ground.

I think the sumac is at its most attractive when the fruits are bright red, and the red berries are surrounded by foliage that is just turning from greens to blue/purples to reds.