Life is short—and if you’re not careful you’ll spend so much time doing everything you “have” to do that you’ll run out of time for things that bring you joy. Make space. It’s never convenient. It’s always worth it.
Michell C. Clark
This photo comes from Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan and makes an excellent case for making time to travel. Go forth and enjoy this beautiful world!
The drive home on Saturday night gave me some food for thought. You see, I left Adam’s house just before dusk. When I reached the ridge top a few miles away, I was privileged to witness this gorgeous scene.
The sunset was true to the picture – happy and bright. It reminded me of a watercolor painting with an array of peaches, purples and grays melting into the green trees.
I stopped to snap this photo and started my descent toward home and away from this sherbet colored sky. A few miles down the road, I came around the bend to this scene.
I stop to photograph this barn occasionally but usually when the sky is bright. The fog rolling in was captivating to my eye but the road beckoned me to continue home.
Isn’t that how life is for most of us? The roads we travel can be so different for each of us just depending on when we go. Never mind the vehicle we drive, the company we keep and the resources we carry to help our journey.
It made me think about how different the road can be, just miles away and minutes apart.
While the people traveling high on the ridge may have a beautiful sunset to enjoy, someone further down the road may have nothing to see but grey skies.
Remember that in your travels and when interacting with others. It’s hard to know where they’ve been and whether they’ve been living in the light or struggling in the fog.
Being a self proclaimed country mouse, it is unheard of for me to stand in the heart of a city and not look up. At home, I look up to see the tall trees and the stars that reach to the heavens. In cities, I search the skyline for patterns and for things that stick out. I search for cats in windows and for wrought iron railings. I search for gargoyles and for unusual brick designs.
I search for the things others pass by without any notice at all. It seems people pass by an awful lot these days. I did some shopping after work last night and was surprised by the number of people standing around looking at their phones while they evidently waited for someone else.
Meanwhile, I tucked my phone in my bag and happily ignored it for most of the evening. It was lovely wandering around just looking at stuff and people watching.
It is my fondest hope that I will hold onto my curiosity about places and people and about how things are made. Life is richer when you look up to the top floor of a tall building and wonder what goes inside and why someone built it in the first place. It’s better when you wonder about the people who live and work there.
Life is better when you stop to consider how light and shadows play together to change the look of a place as the day progresses. It’s better when you pause to absorb the beauty of a blue sky day when you expected rain and have nowhere to be except where you are right now.
Incidentally, the beautiful building pictured here is the 1933 Cincinnati Times-Star building, a reported art deco masterpiece that looks like a must see for another trip to the city.
There’s always something new to see and appreciate!
“The man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.“
Henry David Thoreau
A poet named Nikita Gill gave the world this poem. Her words are hopeful, honest and inspiring. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I did.
Your ancestors did not survive
everything that nearly ended them
for you to shrink yourself
to make someone else
comfortable.
This sacrifice is your warcry,
be loud,
be everything
and make them proud.
You can’t talk about Cincinnati history or the city’s history museum without discussing the Crosley automobile. The Crosley Corporation produced a series of subcompact cars that are as cute as can be. They didn’t operate for a long time (1939-1952 with a break during the war years) but they certainly left their mark on the automobile industry.
They made the first mass produced automobile with an overhead camshaft engine that was affordable to the masses. They made a sports car, a truck, a convertible and station wagon like the one on display at the Ohio History center.
This 1951 Super Station Wagon is part of the permanent collection at the Cincinnati History Museum. It got an impressive 30- 50 miles per gallon at a top speed of around sixty miles per hour. According to the signage with the vehicle, the 1951 and 1952 models of this car came with this nifty little propeller on the front of the car.
Crosley Corporation and company founder Powell Crosley gave us the Shelvador refrigerator, a first to offer shelves inside the door. Powell owned the Cincinnati Reds for a while, broadcasting the games on his powerful WLW AM radio station which broadcast to homes across the Midwest on inexpensive radios he manufactured and sold to households nationwide.
The pictured vehicle was donated to the museum in honor of Jean and Houston Crosley. Houston was the grandson of Powell Crosley, Jr. Incidentally, they are buried at Spring Grove Cemetery along with many other members of the Crosley family.
Read about Spring Grove Cemetery here.