A stroll through the Cincinnati Natural History Museum last month helped me remember something important.
The field of geology involves a lot of enormous, awkward looking words that I will never remember. The age of the pieces on display at this museum will bowl you over if you really stop and think about how many millions of years they have been in existence.
Yet, I’m fascinated by many of these things. Crinoids were marine animals that predated the dinosaurs by about 300 million years. Today, they are commonly found as fossils. How is that even possible? More importantly, how have their fossils survived all this time?
While there’s a lot I don’t understand, I do know that many of these fossils resemble works of art. Isn’t this piece beautiful against the bright blue background? I have seen expensive sculptures in fine art museums that don’t compare to this.
It really drives home the fact that art can be found anywhere. Beauty is everywhere. You just have to look for it. Go forth and find something fabulous!
People in Greenfield, Ohio are waking up this morning with a nagging question on their minds.
Who was that blond in the black shirt at alumni yesterday? She looked familiar but no one knew her.
That’s because I more or less crashed their alumni day just to see inside their gorgeous high school. To be fair, the high school open house was open to the public but it was a sea of people with name tags like – “Bill, Class of 62” and Shannon, Class of 94.”
One of them seemed to think he knew me and struck up a conversation. I’m a little ashamed to say that I didn’t confess to being a tourist. Honestly, I was having such a fun time I hated to out myself!
What brought me to this place?
My lovely reader Christine Lewis recommended that I take a tour of Greenfield’s McClain High School. She said that it’s a beautiful old building filled with artwork and she said it is the kind of place I would enjoy.
Christine was not wrong. This place is like no high school I’ve ever seen. It is magnificent.
Built in 1914, this brick three story behemoth was a gift to the community from inventor and industrialist Edward Lee McClain.
The building resembles an art museum with its marble staircase, murals, statues and hundreds of works of art in seemingly every nook and cranny.
The wood floors are almost blindingly shiny and the light is stunning.
The pool was built in 1923 and is believed to be the oldest high school pool still in use. The theater has a balcony that overlooks a large stage, pipe organ and gorgeous friezes that line the side walls.
The water fountains! Oh, how I loved them. They are backed by Rookwood tile from Cincinnati’s Over-The-Rhine neighborhood.
And the library! The library is anchored by two large murals and lined with busts of influential classic writers and paintings that depict them.
The old card catalog is no longer in use but it’s still there.
Plus, they still have the old bell system. I really liked this space.
Not to mention, the classrooms are pretty fabulous too.
I learned some things about Mr. McClain but my favorite factoid is that he built this school for all high school students in the community. There was no mention of race, religion, nationality or anything else. This school was integrated in 1914 – a full fifty years before most in southern Ohio.
What a gift to the community – not just the building but all it stood for in terms of equality and even access to beauty and art in a rural community where museums would not be easily accessible.
One thing I noticed is that they have done a nice job of keeping up with the times while honoring the integrity of the history and the artistry of this place. For example, the classrooms still have the original wood framed chalk boards. They also have white boards and technology tools that make the classrooms functional and modern.
The place buzzed with people surrounding the various alumni activities but I managed to find some quiet spaces. Those spaces felt different. They felt solemn and important. Those quiet places with dim light and antique features felt sacred. It felt like a cathedral of learning and I hope the students who get to learn there appreciate their surroundings.
I never would have known to go without Christine’s tip and I am grateful that she thought of me. If you ever get a chance to tour McClain High School – GO. You won’t regret it.
Last month I visited Kingwood Center Gardens and showed you pictures of the house and gardens. Today, I want to revisit that trip to show you more of the Lego sculptures currently on display.
This hummingbird and flower seem to defy the law of gravity.
This birdbath is quite realistic
The peacock was one of my favorite pieces. It’s comprised of 68,827 Lego bricks and it took about 625 hours to build. I cannot fathom the patience and time needed to make this piece.
I also really liked the tortoise with a bird perched on its back. It looks incredibly realistic.
The flowers were the draw for me to visit Kingwood but I appreciated the Legos along the way. For other people, the opposite was true. They went for the Legos but, hopefully, enjoyed the flowers and the time in nature along the way.
These snaps come from a browsing expedition at the Kate Spade Store at the Oculus – the high end shopping center located at the World Trade Center in New York. This particular display is one of the oddest I have seen in person.
However, it certainly got the job done given that I’m still thinking about it all these months later. It’s whimsical with lots of varying heights, textures, colors and shapes.
I don’t necessarily like everything they sell but appreciate the classic pieces like leather gloves and this vintage inspired floral adorned bag.
I won’t pretend to understand the zebra masks. Maybe they’re just a fun way to play up the zebra prints found throughout the store. However, I prefer to think there’s a deeper meaning as the zebra represents determination and empowerment.
Nonetheless, all the colors and shapes make this boutique feel like a candy store for the grownup eye.
It’s Thanksgiving in America. This is meant to be a day of thanks for the blessings we’ve enjoyed for the last year but it’s more a day of food and football. Tomorrow, as folks will spend the day buying a bunch of stuff they probably don’t need and can’t afford.
A Norman Rockwell painting we are not.
This painting is called “Home For Thanksgiving.” It was featured on the November 24, 1945 cover of The Saturday Evening Post. That was 77 years ago today.
The young man and his mother were real people. He was freshly home from the war and helping his mother with chores he likely would have hated doing in the Army Air Corps. Kitchen Patrol or KP duty probably didn’t seem so bad in the warmth of his mama’s kitchen.
Rockwell paid them each $15 to sit for the portrait. I read once that they owned the local dairy in their Vermont small town and that the young man was Rockwell’s milkman.
This painting was donated to the Eugene M. Connor Post 193 of the American Legion in Massachusetts many years ago. But they didn’t know it was an original and left it hanging in a hallway for decades. When someone offered $500 for what the Legion thought was a print, they took it to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts for appraisal.
After learning they owned an American treasure, they loaned it to the museum for display and safekeeping.
Just last year, the Legion sold it at auction for $4.3 million. This hefty sum went into a trust and interest earned will help pay bills and fund future repairs for the Legion.
It’s a beautiful slice of Americana and I like how it illustrates a nation transitioning from wartime into peacetime. Something so everyday like peeling potatoes probably felt almost luxurious to the soldier and his mother who had suffered untold sleepless nights in his absence.
Her relief is palpable.
Gratitude would have been the only thing that mattered in many households across the nation that Thanksgiving. Our soldiers were headed home. Life was returning to a new normal. Life was good.
Wherever you are in this world today, I hope life is good. Happy Thanksgiving!
Of all the places we visited in Colorado this summer, Durango is the one I truly hated to leave.
The climate was pleasant and the town is the rare combination of charming AND prepared for guests. There’s a ton of opportunity to get outside and plenty of places to be entertained and engaged.
This southwest Colorado town was founded in 1880. It has a rich railroad history and is near Mesa Verde National Park which I enjoyed immensely (aside from the snake).
The Animas River cuts through town and there’s a River Walk that gives you a beautiful place to view the water while getting some exercise.
The historic downtown district has a host of restaurants and cute shops including some great used bookstores. We had a few delicious meals here too.
My friend was especially thrilled to find that the local humane society runs a thrift store. It was a nice one too, arranged more like a boutique than a traditional thrift store which always seem a little too messy.
This area is blessed with charm, beauty and so much opportunity for exploration I regretted not scheduling more time to enjoy it.
I’m already plotting a return trip next year. This time, I’ll be with two friends and I’m hoping to find a good Airbnb in Durango to use as home base while we adventure.
Isn’t it wonderful having a place to look forward to exploring?
