Sometimes we are tired because we aren’t rested and sometimes we are tired because we aren’t doing enough of the things that make us feel alive.
I have strayed far down a path away from the things that make me feel happy – road trips, writing, and exploration of the world around me have taken a backseat to work, illness and an all around sense of busyness.
Winter is done. Spring has sprung. It’s time to get busy living.
I’m ready for some road trips, for diner food and for tours of random historic sites. I’m ready for a long weekend looking at murals and flowers, for slamming on the brakes to photograph a barn, and for falling into bed at night exhausted from a day of seeing what’s around the next bend in the road.
I want to roll into a town I don’t know well, park the car and walk around. The world looks so different and is more engaging as a pedestrian.
These are the things that bring me joy and that make me feel like me. It has been a while and I think it’s time to go.
We spend so much time at work and fulfilling obligations in life outside work. We spend so much time recovering from a busy week and preparing for the next one. When did life become such a drag? When did the to-do list become the most important thing?
When did the news, weather, and mowing grass become the only thing we know how to discuss?
Let’s read a book, go for a drive, watch a documentary, learn a hobby, visit somewhere new, and learn something interesting so we aren’t swallowed up by the drudgery and by the mundane reality of merely existing.
When I was a college student back in the late nineties, I had the good fortune to score a job in my college library. The woman who hired me happened to be my first boss and we’ve stayed in touch over the years. Sometimes Terri and I even venture out of the virtual world and into a restaurant as we did last night.
College was good for me in many ways. It brought me out of my shell, exposing me to people who are different than me or who think differently than me. This is important for anyone who grows up surrounded by people who all look the same, who sound the same and who all have shared interests and world views. After all, variety is the spice of life.
Plus, I had license to learn about topics that my public school education hadn’t covered. I took some psychology, sociology and even an anthropology class along with my english and history classes. I also discovered an appreciation for art history thanks to one particular educator who had a knack for breathing life into primitive cave paintings, grand cathedrals and obscure statues that one may never encounter independently.
Students today are encouraged to train their focus on the classes that will aid in their future job. This seems so short sighted because there’s more to life than work and through learning we become better rounded, more productive members of society. Those art history classes have benefited me in more ways than I can count.
The waitress had just removed my plate when the door swung open and my former Art History Professor Dr. Ken Breidenbaugh came into view. He and Terri had worked together for many years so those two had some catching up to do. I’m not sure he remembered me but he was the picture of manners and interested in what I’m doing these days.
Dr. Breidenbaugh was a force to be reckoned with in the classroom. He wove together technical art criticism with stories of the artists, world history, local history and relevant topics that were on his mind. While I benefited from his classroom instruction, I was fortunate to occasionally encounter Dr. Breidenbaugh at work as well. He often reserved giant art history books for his students to use as reference and would stop at the circulation desk for his own business as well. I always looked forward to his visits.
He encouraged his students to travel and explore. He encouraged us to study what is familiar and draw lines between the contemporary world and times past.
Growing up in a rural area, there wasn’t a lot of exposure to art and live performance during my school years. Dr. Breidenbaugh recognized that many of his students hadn’t traveled, hadn’t seen live performance or classic architecture and needed a nudge to go see what exists outside the small bubbles that most of us occupy. He encouraged us to look beyond the classes we needed for our jobs and to embrace things that would simply bring us joy, knowledge and excitement about the world.
Life is more than work, he said.
He encouraged his students to seek out art and architecture where we could. He’s the reason I wanted to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous home, Fallingwater, in Pennsylvania. He’s the reason I get excited at the sight of a church spire and why I can hardly wait to see what’s around the next bend in an art museum.
My life is richer and more beautiful because of the tools he gave me for viewing the world and for instilling in me a desire to go out and see as much as I can.
I wish I had the presence of mind to say all of that to Dr. Breidenbaugh last night. Instead, I squeaked out something about thinking of him every time I visit a museum. That statement is true but it represents just a fraction of what I carry with me from his teaching.
I hope that he got the gist and understands what it meant to learn from him.
Is there an educator who made a difference in your life? If you’re lucky, there were a few. Tell them, if you get a chance.
The Cleveland Museum of Art is filled with surprises around nearly every corner.
With about 60,000 pieces in a collection that ranges from African and Chinese art to Renaissance art and even armory. The building itself is spectacular with a gorgeous exterior and an atrium that somehow makes you feel like you are at once inside and outside.
Adam and I met four friends and it was striking how different everyone’s interests were and how much we all responded to seeing things that we automatically enjoyed and things that were perhaps a little foreign.
A gorgeous Tiffany glass window, a wall sized tapestry, some Japanese statuary and a room of Impressionist paintings were among my favorites.
I have said here before and will say again that I don’t have much to say about art that’s especially insightful or intelligent. I do know what I like and what moves me. While I enjoy hearing expert analysis of artwork, I also think it’s important to remember that art was meant to be enjoyed and appreciated.
Wherever you are in this world, if you’re near an art museum, I suggest you go look around and see what you think. You may find a new passion or you may simply have something new to think about.
If you’re near Cleveland, go check out this museum. There is a fee to park but admission is free. If you want to spend the day, they do have a museum cafe and plenty of seating to rest a while and think about all the beauty this museum holds.
The Cincinnati Museum Center houses four quality museums including a natural history museum.
You can buy one pass that gets you into this museum, the Cincinnati History Museum and a children’s museum. Admission to the Holocaust museum and the IMAX experience are extra. We did the basic pass, opting to come back another day to explore the rest.
I was most excited for the Cincinnati history museum but, as it turns out, this one was my favorite of the two. They won me over at the front door with the Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery. Using photos, some original artifacts, a few reproductions and a little technology, they do a good job telling this Ohio native’s story as the first person to walk on the moon.
Dinosaur Hall was a lot of fun and there was a jaw dropping long horn bison to appreciate as well. I had no idea such a beast ever existed. It was as big as a car!
Another highlight was going through a simulated cave and the joy of seeing a living bat up close. Lots of people find bats threatening or frightening but I think they’re neat little guys!
I learned that, in geologic terms, we are living in the Anthropocene Age. You know, it has never crossed my mind to wonder about this. I’m probably not alone in my failure to consider my place in the grand scheme of time. In case you’re wondering, Anthro means human and cene means recent. The name basically means the humans have left a lasting mark on the planet.
No kidding.
This is just one reason I enjoy museums so much. Sometimes they feature interesting or pretty things to enjoy and they often show you things you didn’t know existed. If you’re paying attention, a good museum will always give you something to think about and hopefully an idea to revisit another day.
There’s something for everyone here including some thought provoking stuff you might not expect to see. Learn more about the museum here and about the building that houses it here.
The doors of Greenfield Elementary School caught my attention while walking to the high school open house Saturday. Can you read the message?
Thought once awakened does not again slumber.
That’s the perfect sentiment for an elementary school. It is when we are small that we either decide we love learning or we hate it. Reversing that decision later in life is possible but not easy so it’s important to get it right the first time.
How lucky are the students of Greenfield, Ohio that they have such beautiful and imaginative places to learn and grow? Read about their magnificent high school here.f
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.
