The women who got us here.

A friend of mine recently lost her mother.  Stephanie's mother was born in 1930 - which was the same year that my own mother had been born.  I had never meet my friend's mother but I had heard stories about her for the past several years as her health had declined.  I was hearing about an elderly woman who was slowly deteriorating.  I was hearing about the sadness and the frustrations of her decline.  This was a story that I could well identify with as I had watched both of my parents go from vital, interesting people to mere shadows of their former selves. It is sad to see this happen - and it is so important to remember who these people really were.  I got a glimpse of who my friend's mother was when I went to her memorial service and it really set me thinking about the women of that generation.  Her accomplishments were being recounted -  her travels, her volunteerism, her pursuit of education and enlightenment - she held a doctorate degree!  And one phrase in particular really struck me - she had done all of these things and had never received a paycheck for any of them! What a luxury that must have been to be able to go and explore life without having to worry about the small stuff. Not to say that all women of that generation were able to do this.  So many of that generation paved the path and worked their way up in the job markets. I am so glad that we have moved forward and that women are able to make a paid career out of their pursuits.  But part of me wonders if women had more fun back in the day when things were done strictly for  personal interest!  I wish that I had more time to find out.  Maybe that is what career jumping is all about.  Today we get to change gears (theoretically if we can find a new job) in order to fall in love with a new idea again.  It keeps us interesting and hopefully staves off the old age a little longer.  I have some wonderful friends - my role models - who are in their 80's and who are so interesting and young.  And it seems their secret fountain of youth is keeping  busy and always being ready to try something new.   God bless these women.  May they live to 100 and always be explorers.

Waxing poetic

Once upon a time there was a carnauba tree.  And it produced wax.  Really good wax for parquet floors.  And from this wax came an entire dynasty of products and a family legacy to be truly proud of.  Of course I am referring to the S.C. Johnson Company of products and the S.C. Johnson Family.  What a great place to visit.  The original building is, of course, a Frank Lloyd Wright building.  From the history of the building it becomes clear that Wright was a much better visionary than architect. According to the guide, windows have been replaced, cracks have been filled, leaks have be stopped, etc.  And I don't know that it would have been the most conducive place for work.  The furniture, while beautiful to look at, was not aways practical.  The original chairs had a bad habit of tipping over! But it is a unique environment and I do applaud the SC Johnson Group for having the courage to allow it to have happened in the first place and to have maintained it and kept the repairs in line with Wright's original vision.

There is another new and extremely beautiful and sustainable building at the Headquarters in Racine.  It is the Fortaleza Hall.  It is a really stunning glass building, spherical in shape and housing among other things, an airplane!. It works so very well with the historical Wright architecture on the property.  “This building is intended to inspire us, to be a special place to remind us of our sense of adventure,” said Chairman and CEO, Fisk Johnson, the fifth generation leader of the company. “It is a symbol of our unique history of innovation, creativity and progressive attitude. My family wanted this to be a jewel for our community. Imagine a little boy or a little girl looking out a car window seeing that sight of the brightly colored S-38 amphibious plane soaring and in their minds being transported somewhere else by the adventure and romance of it all.”

This architecture apes the philosophy of a truly innovative family who manufacture and sell the household products that make our life easier every day.  The spirit of the company seems to be that of a forward thinking group who are concerned about their employees, their customers and on a greater scale, the world that we all inhabit.  No. I do not work for them.  I do admire their spirit and conscience.

My friends and I had a nice time on our visit.  Of course it would have been a little more pleasant if we had gone on a day in June instead of a day in February when the wind was whipping off of Lake Michigan, blowing in 10 degree weather.  But why let a little weather stop us from exploring and having a fun adventure?  Never happen. More adventures to follow.....

Get with the QR

In order to stay current,
you have to stay current!
This is a QR. If you have travelled,
then you have seen these and probably
wondered- what is that?  It is a new type of
bar code.  QR stands for quick response.  These are used frequently in places like Japan.  They can contain all kinds of info.  They usually direct you to a specific website from your smart phone.  I want to use it as an art project.  I want to know what I can find out about who clicks on this partiular QR.  Send me a message!

Oh, Mexico....

I ended year one of my exploration challenge by visiting yet another new country to add to my list.  My family, and when I say my family, I mean all of my husbands immediate family - 13 in all- flew south of the border for some fun in the sun.  Who says 13 is an unlucky number!

This year I ended up trying a some new foods - I have to keep at this as there are so many things to taste and experience. I visited two new states - Oregon and Washington. - both very beautiful and well worth the visit. I now have 7 to go to have seen all 50-  Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Kansas, Hawaii and Alaska.  I may have actually been in Kansas as a child, but I don't remember it, so I won't count it.

State capitals.....well that is yet another challenge.  I'll have to think about this and count how many I have been in.  I know I have lived in a few - Little Rock, Harrisburg and Raleigh.

I visited a few new countries. They were Spain, Italy, the Holy See and Mexico.  On this score I have lots of places that I need to go. I have only been to Canada, Mexico, England, France, the Holy See, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Venezuela, Barbados, St Lucia, Greneda, the Virgin Islands, and several islands in the Bahamas. There are 257 countries listed on wikipedia.

And on the larger scale of things that means I have been to North America, South America, and Europe.  I need to get cracking on those continents. 4 more to go.

Major cities....well this year I hit Rome, Madrid, Seattle, Portland, Venice.

As my mom would have said - so many places, so little time.....

Well, no time like the present.  I am planning my next short adventure with my friends.  We are going to see another Frank Lloyd Wright creation.  I'll tell you all about that soon.

Any travel advice?  The advice is always welcome.  Happy Trails in 2011!

Get those middle aged bones moving!

I challenge anyone who reads this to get out and move on foot in a new way for 30 minutes each and every day.  Let's compare notes in a month and see what has happened and where we have moved!

I wish I had some gum...

Boy. Who would have ever thought that gum and beer could buy so much beautiful land! I took a drive up to Lake Geneva today to tour the Lake and in particular Black Point Estate. My SpecialFX friends and I lucked out. The day was a perfect example of Fall. Beautiful blue skies with a few fluffy clouds floating overhead made the Lake look even prettier than it already is. This is the time of year to go to a place like Lake Geneva. A few weeks earlier and it would have been a crowded tourist trap. But this time of the year, the waitresses are glad to see you walk into the restaurant, the guides are happy to give you the full guided tour and the docents at the historic homes like Black Point are generous with their time and knowledge. Geneva Lake and Lake Geneva, the town and lake respectively, are the summer home to some very successful people from the Chicago area.  The Wrigley Family have several homes on the Lake, just to name one famous family.  People have spent millions of dollars on lovely 'summer' homes.  Not as lavish as places like Newport or the Cape, but certainly the Lake is truly a lovely place to vacation. And one of the most impressive homes on the lake is a victorian estate called Black Point.

Black Point is a home of unusual distinction. It is a survivor of a by-gone era. In some ways, the whole town of Geneva is a throw back to another time. It is a reminder of what vast wealth and the good old American dream can buy you. The Black Point home was a family home. It was built by German immigrants who made large sums of money brewing beer. The American Dream come true. The brewery in Chicago no longer exists, neither does the family home in Chicago along Lake Michigan. Both are long gone. But the 'vacation' house still looms over Lake Geneva. The house was donated to the State of Wisconsin by the surviving members of the Conrad Seipp family.  The family had owned the estate and used it as a summer escape since it was built on the South Shore of Lake Geneva in 1888.  Unfortunately for Conrad, he didn't really get to enjoy the house. He died shortly after the house was finished.

The house sits on the highest point over looking the lake and has been the site of many a weekend romp.  Now if you can climb the more than 100 steep steps, you too can get an idea of what the rich and somewhat famous of the Midwest used to enjoy on a hot August weekend.  The house has not changed much over the years. It is filled with mismatched victorian furniture. In my opinion, it could use a decorator. It is a bit dark and doesn't really seem particularly comfortable.  But with a good glass of beer and the right company, it could be a lot of fun.

For me the most enjoyable part of seeing the house was the boat ride to the house.  A young teacher gave a very nice guided tour of the lake. The weather was perfect and I was with friends who are easy to travel with. This is not something that is always true about friends as I am sure many of you know. That is the best part of any field trip. Throughout life we have friends that we play with, friends that we shop with, friends that we dine with, friends that we laugh with and friends that we cry with. We have friends that we share memories and stories with if we are truly blessed.  I value my friends.  They are a necessary part of a full life.  You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends. I think I am really lucky to have some wonderful friends.  And I am even more lucky to say that many of my friends are flexible enough to go at the drop of a hat. By the time you reach middle age, the reality hits hard that if you are going to do something, there is no time like the present to do it when someplace interesting or new comes along.  So to all of you friends out there, pick a new place and lets get going.

Travelling with the SpecialFX

Tomorrow I am off on another adventure with my SpecialFX Tour Group. We are off to Wisconsin for the day to explore the back roads, catch a little color, ride a boat in hopefully not too gusty winds on Lake Geneva and tour a true Victorian Mansion. I hope my feet will get me up the 100 steps from the boat to the house!

Nothing like a road trip with friends!

More tomorrow.