Brown Motion

 In today’s crazy politically correct world with equality and liberty taking on dramatic hues it is hard enough with people telling us their gender without asking and what or how they like to be referred as. Now add Covid to the equation and you have people coming out announcing their viral affection which in turn is going viral. As an example an Australian actor announced he has covid.  Now how is it news?  And more importantly what am I supposed to do with this? I say be who you are and do what you will as long as you leave me out. Unless we are going to eat together or work together I really don’t care what you are doing or leaning. Lean in, come out, sleep on it.. just don’t tell me about it.

Savannah. First city in the then colony of Georgia.  Named after George II of England.  By a general that landed in 1736 with British soldiers and setup shop.  Name of Oglethorpe.  Big drag in town named after him.  Some stately mansions standing to the day too bear his name. A well laid out planned city.  One of the first of its kind in the Southern United States.  Made of public squares and a grid pattern for streets.  Standing to the day.  Short city blocks lined with large oaks. Each oak laden with what is called Spanish Moss that hangs like gossamer.  Turns out it is not moss but some form of aerial plant that thrives of these large ancient trees as its host and gives Savannah its distinct character. Fountain in Forsyth Park decorated with Christmas bows Oaks with Spanish Moss Confederate statue and some colonel in Oglethorpe's army The city is a major seaport for goods entering from the east.  Situated along the Savannah River it is few miles inland from the Atlantic. America

 Local attractions abound in America.  When it comes to season specific events there are many.  So this week of the birthday of Jesus we ventured to find what the Carolinas do for the celebration. Found the town of McAdenville, NC.  Apparently ranked as top five spots to see public displays of light and hear church bells. It is the main drag in town that runs about 1.5 miles.  All lit up for the season.  It was fun driving through.  The high point is lights that ring a little lake formed as an offshoot of the Catawba river.

 Measurable time vs. Memorable time. I am pondering this concept or notion and will fill in my thoughts as they come to me.  Mostly while showering as the hot water pounds the dull cranium and then gurgles down to the drain. Each of us lives for a period measured in days translated into years or loops around our star called the Sun, on this rock that itself has been around for 4.5 billion years.  That is a large number but a measurable one and thence in measured time.  Not one living soul has a memory of that since we as a species - Sapiens - do not live anywhere close to that timeframe.  Best we have pulled off is like 120 years.  Lived.  Existed.  Measured.  No idea what that being who lived that long remembered of that total.  Perhaps significantly less?  Memorable time. Our experiences as sentient beings, constitutes a way for us to acknowledge time.  We say when I was so many years old I remember having enjoyed an ice cream cone for the first time or sadness when someone passed. 

 I read a joke about a NYC commuter some years back.. lived and worked in the city and he said about his commute - I spend more time in vertical travel than horizontal. A recent visit to the Big Apple was much joy simply because as an architecture geek I was able to visit some familiar landmarks and visit new ones that had popped up since my last visit a decade ago.  Many as you guessed are vertical and really tall.  Building design is largely glass and concrete as is the case in certain heights to ensure integrity but the way it changed the skyline was indeed eye catching. The trip also included visiting boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn at some length and breadth. Which meant crossing new bridges and travel through tunnels under the rivers and bays that surround NYC. Here are some of those sightings and experiences.. From NJ to Staten Island over the Goethals Bridge we traveled from Carolinas to NYC and traveled along a route that is depicted through these images paying our toll to the

 Perhaps many Americans may not know but Germany just switched to a new leader of their nation. Herr Olaf Scholz was elected and took office as post war Germany's ninth CEO aka Chancellor of the Federal Republic. No drama.  No media sensation.  Nothing. Lot of car rides between the Parliament aka Reichstag building and Presidential palace to follow the due process of being anointed (post the ballot process) and it was over.  When he appeared in the parliament for the confirmation every lawmaker and photographer in attendance was wearing a mask.  No exceptions. NYT put this story lower down on their first page.  Covid and American spending bills took up the top half. He takes over from Ms Angela Merkel who ruled Germany for 16 years and was a true leader and powerful lady without being pompous or wanting to strut it.  She did the job of an elected official as a public servant is expected to do. Mr. Scholz is likely to follow in her footsteps and even took out the 'help me god

 That was what it used to be called.  In honor of the famous cigarette brand made by RJ Reynolds Tobacco.  The hyphenated town of Winston-Salem.  Built on Tobacco. In the deep south.  This is quite a town /city.  We visited today.  Started by checking out a monolith quartzite sticking out some 1,500 feet up called Pilot Mountain.  Quite striking in its majesty as you are cruising north on highway 52 just north of Winston. Then we drove back into town to check out some legacy money that built some mansions of repute. Both with wonderful gardens who had withered with the onset of winter.  But still charming. One was the home of RJR family matriarch called Reynolda.  Good southern Chinese dumplings were a nice surprise for lunch.  We even took some soup home. Across the road is former estate of one of the other prominent people back then - this one in banking.  Son of Wachovia Bank founder had an estate built called Graylyn.  Grounds are vast and the facade of the building is quite stunni

 I have been to some bars.  Those that offer the beverages that can perk you up or drown.  Polished oak, sparkling mirrors and rows of aperitifs and stronger distilled spirits along glass shelves reflected in said mirror. A whiff or something herbal or decaying depending on the establishment. Now I am not a typical visitor to said facility so my knowledge of the surrounds is limited. The counter or the bar as one sidles up to is a long section of hardwood kept within arm's length of the barkeeper.  It helps to pour and provide the thirsty.  But in these moments I fail to remember how many sides the said bar had. I can only remember the one.  Or two if you count the one used by the keep.  And if there was more than one on the side I could not attest. Yet as Americanisms go most all corporate types speak in riddles.  One such is 'having a sidebar'.  Or referring to a sidebar conversation.  What exactly is this I ask? What is the import that cannot be discussed while downing a

 Montauk Lighthouse.  At the very eastern edge of the state of NY.  In the Atlantic. A light house commissioned by George Washington.  A site to see and experience.  Blowing wind, sun in our eyes and sand making its way up the hill to form dunes with a wind chill around 20 F. It was so worth the trip. The lighthouse is on the same longitude as Rhode Island to the north. It takes a couple hours out of NYC to get there but it is serene and calming when you look around.  Montauk is a village on eastern edge of Long Island which itself sticks out like a sore thumb at the bottom of NY. Beaches were quiet except for some fools like us braving the cold bite. Nourishment along the way came in the village of Sag Harbor.

 NYC and WDC.  It is always fun to visit places that throb with humans representing the globe's variety. NYC of course is five boroughs, the most vertically dense and popular being Manhattan.  That it is an island is noteworthy and is sandwiched between two rivers, Hudson on the west and the East river.   Washington DC also happens to be straddled by two rivers - Potomac and Anacostia.  And both cities are old establishments. NYC has records going back to Dutch settlements in late 17th century versus the military architect L'Enfant asking President Washington to design the new capital for the Federal Republic in late 18th century. Both cities have since grown dramatically in population and structures and their cultural diversity.   Below are views of the landscapes and skylines today. Popular former President's get classy monuments in the District of Columbia to remember them by - Obelisk standing 555 ft tall in honor of the first President Jefferson's memorial is by th