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!