Don't Think and Drive (12)

The trip to St. Louis was great! If you haven't heard about it yet, catch these posts:
http://dlorimer.blogspot.com/2010/03/meet-me-in-st-louis-louis-travelogue.html
http://dlorimer.blogspot.com/2010/03/catch-first-one-here-if-you-missed-it.html

Some funny things along the way:

The "Real Book Fake Book" for the positionally challenged.

The signs along the streets declared:
"No parking on even Tuesdays"
"No parking the 2nd Wednesday of the Month"
I tremble in fear, for the tales behind these ominous (and strange) signs must be terrible and ancient. "On the night of an even Tuesday, with a full moon high in the sky, the steedless horseman rides through town, silent and shrowded by fog, and any vehicle parked on the street is never seen again ...."

At Washington University, nearly everything is named after somebody.
---Their new school of law building is named "Anheuser-Busch". As our tour guide said, it gives a whole new meaning to "passing the bar exam"!

---Right in the middle of campus is a big open space named - oddly enough - "Mudd Field".


As we drove along, we saw a school named "Visitation Academy". Kind of like drive-through restaurants and drive-in movies?

A professionally printed church sign:
"Esther: It's tough being a women." I suppose it is!

Meet Me In St Louis, Louis. (Travelogue 03/16-19/2010), Day 3 & 4

Catch the first one here if you missed it.

On Our Feet
We walked almost all of the next day. We returned to WashU for a tour of the entire campus. Buildings always impressive, academics great, and sports semi-laughable. We grabbed lunch, then headed back across the street ...

Forest Park

Cheetah

Washington University is located at the site of the 1904 World's Fair. Forest Park, the location of the fair, is literally across the street from the WashU campus. At 1300 acres, this place is astounding. Aside from the manicured lawns, ornate stone waterways and bridges, and reclaimed forest areas, the park also offers a large zoo, art museum, history museum, and science center -- all free! Add a golf course, ice skating rink, opera, and a bunch of other stuff we didn't see, and you have one amazing place! We spent quite a bit of time at the zoo, which was very nice. It's a very nice layout with lots of animals. I believe that was the first time I've seen kangaroos - very strange indeed. Also beatiful zebras, jaguars, cheetahs, and the list goes on. We stopped by the art museum as well. That was indeed impressive, but as I'm not really an art person, it didn't appeal to me so much. But I hadn't seen anything yet . . .

Meet me at the Fair
What I did not see was the glory of the 1904 World's Fair. Part of what is now Washington University was actually built for the fair, which explains why it is so elaborate. (Somehow, they pulled off a deal to buy that location the year after the fair!) Curious, upon returning home, I looked up the 1904 World's Fair. *lack of breath* Astounding. We saw nothing compared to what that place was in 1904. Nearly all of some of the most amazing buildings in this country have now been completely torn now, and are just the manicured grass we walked across. The campus of WashU, and the offerings of Forest Park are a small testimony to the grandeur of the past.

------------------------------
Info about the 1904 Fair:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Park_(St._Louis,_Missouri)

Pictures:
Then:
http://www.crawforddirect.com/worldfairtour.htm
http://washingtonmo.com/1904/p3.htm
Now:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/179917778HjQVvg?start=0

Check out these maps:
Then:
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/1998/novdec98/fairblay.JPG
Now:
http://www.slfp.com/SLFP-FPFEmap.htm
------------------------------

Looking up at the Arch

Real Estate
We went immediately from there to getting apartment tours in various places, which took some time. Following that, we went to the famous St. Louis Arch. Everything was already closed, of course, but it was a beautiful sight in the sunset. We were both very tired, and called it a day. Surprising for us, when we arrived back at our hosts', they laughed at our sunburns! We weren't expecting that, having just come out of a cold March!

The Arch

Out of the Gateway
Friday promised a lot more miles. We did another set of apartment tours, then went back to the arch, planning to go up the 630 feet. Sadly, in the first 2 hours of being open, they had completely sold out that day and part of the next. The road was again our place as we headed back to Kentucky. It was a great visit to the Gateway to the West.

Capital Building

Meet Me In St Louis, Louis. (Travelogue 03/16-19/2010), Day 1 & 2

Touchdown
Somehow, in this story, liftoff starts at touchdown. I picked up my cousin at the Lexington airport, and we headed for St. Louis. The primary purpose of the trip was to check out Washington University, which my cousin is considering for Masters work. Tuesday was a pretty uneventful trip, and as it warmed up throughout the day, we had lunch outside in the beautiful Illinois Spring weather. Visited with our gracious housing hosts that evening.

WashU
The big day nearly blew us away at the outset. We were quite ironically in the middle of a conversation about architecture when we arrived at Washington University of St. Louis. Whoa! The campus could nearly knock a person over. Abounding with astonishing architecture, it looks like Cambridge Univeristy! From the dominating castle front entrance, to the stone and the spires and the arches and the lavish interiors, the school is an artistic masterpiece.

WashU Front Entrance.

(If you're not familiar with Cambridge, check out pictures of both. There is an astonishing resemblance.
Cambridge:
http://www.pbase.com/compuminus/image/25417422
http://pacejmiller.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/cambridge_university.jpg
WashU:
http://admissions.wustl.edu/video/campus/Pages/NewPhotoGallery.aspx )

"The Quadrangle" Courtyard. Modeled after Oxford.

A meeting room. (I'm thinking "Greatroom")

Holmes Lounge. Originally built for the 1904 Worlds Fair.

I would have loved to revel in the buildings and take lots of pictures, but we had other things to do.
First a tour, then meetings with Admissions and Financial Aid (yes, how could I not be professionally observant in these sessions?). Lunch, and I managed to get in a jog while I was waiting in line. Got to visit a class after that. I really really wanted to get involved in the discussion, but I refrained. I studied for my masters course briefly in one of their many libraries, then we stepped across the street to one of the most amazing places I have ever not seen. But I'll talk about that later. (check the day 3 & 4 blog)

Short personal review? Very nice school. It's large, but they've managed to keep away from an overwhelming feel. Friendly for a Mid-Western city location, I didn't feel odd interacting with anyone. In terms of connecting with the location, feel, and personality of the school, I could see myself in school there. Major drawback: very secular, sold to postmodernism, and glorying in pluralism.

The 'Burg
That evening, we checked out the area, driving around looking at housing options, the student hangouts, "the loop," and downtown St. Louis. We went to an Italian restaurant recommended to us by our hosts, where the food was excellent and the waitress not so much (we will never forget that experience, lol). We discussed later, and are not sure that she ever made eye contact with either of us - aside from a rather strict application of menus.

Louis under Lights
Now that darkness had set in, the real test began. We returned to all the places we had visited earlier in the day, to see how they transformed at night. This time, instead of just driving around, we got out, walked, and looked around. We tried to get a feel for each area. Most were pretty good, and quite acceptable for a city. But there was also that place with the marble floors and broken grand piano .... That place was an easy decision - no.


To be continued ...

I hate Life

(Definition Alert: Please note that "life" as used below refers to the way the world works, NOT to the actual living and breathing, of which I am quite in favor.)


Be it known that I hate this World, Life, and all its encumbrances.


I am no longer entirely naive, as I was in my first warring days.

Then, I denounced Life as a boastful youth scoffs about a giant wrestler's strength. He was easy to laugh at, for he existed "only in my mind." I bemoaned the state of those who mindlessly followed his dictates. I had a thousand theories of how I would avoid him, challenge him, correct him. Then I met him . . .

Now, I know the wrestler. I have met him, and indeed, he is as large as Life itself.
And yet I stand against him, even though I stand alone. I no longer scoff in ignorance; I now oppose with the full knowledge that my foe can squash me in an instant. But it does not matter. I hate him; I despise him, and I cannot take his side. I stand opposed on principle, against the greatest foe. I stand in defiance, knowing that I shall lose.

But the offence I must take is greater still, for the wrestler owns all the weapons. Indeed, nothing can be done which he does not approve. I am nothing but a flea screaming defiance at a tank; the wrestler cares nothing about me. I am forced, if I wish to do anything, to accept his methods. All the turf is his. To fight against the wrestler, I must obey him.

So now I obey, but with defiance in my heart. So now I live according to his dictates, but I do not agree with his way. So now I am a slave, but am always looking to escape. So now I work for the man I hate.

I fear that in the future, I shall accept his ways without question. The wrestler will no longer have to beat me, and force me to submission. I fear that I will have lost my will. I shall completely adopt the ways of Life; I shall perform every jot of the law I now hate. I shall agree with the wrestler.
But will I ever love him?


Please read my thoughts upon meeting this giant wrestler:
http://dlorimer.livejournal.com/48278.html

Don't Think and Drive (11)

You know there's not much cell service in the area when you see a sign like this:
"Signal Ahead - 2 miles"!

So there's this big billboard that says "Sign Available"
I really wanted to call the number and say, "Yes, I'd like a miracle please ..."
(An evil and adultrous generation asks for a sign, you know.)

I drove past a sign that said "Football Parking". Apparently the basketballs and volleyballs must park elsewhere.

The Mohican Climbing Course had an interesting challenge. They had one climbing tower with challenging footholds. This was for the beginner climber, apparently. The other climbing tower had only bare wood! Good luck! (Yes, I know what it is.)

You know it's a big Walmart when they hand out maps at the front door ...!



A lyrical description of my trip. Keep in mind that I was always traveling further North.
From snow to sun
and sun to snow
and on through hurricane
a-traveling I go.

To inches; to piles; to dark blowing snow
then suddenly a sunny barren brownness.
a-traveling I go.

I sit in clear weather, bathed with sun
while events are cancelled from poor weather.
a-traveling I go.

Then I asssault, with my four wheels
those same wintered roads
Going where other men dare not drive
lest, greeted by danger, they do not arrive.
a-traveling I go.

Then finally, with a new band of friends
not in a car, but an intertube
down a snowy hill I fly,
"I love winter; I love snow, and I love sledding too," I cry!
a-traveling I go.

One Week Ago

One week ago, I attended the Homeschool Alumni Ohio Winter Rendezvous.

One week ago yesterday, I drove across northern Ohio to join a unique group of people, most of whom I had never met.

One week ago last night was spent getting to know these folks, playing carpet ball, playing games, sharing jelly bellies and carrots, and playing instruments while we were just jammin' with our peeps. Who knows our occupations? And who knows if we really love our neighbors?

One week ago this morning was some of the best sledding I've seen in about 10 years, complete with tubing and a snowball fight. And that fateful toboggan ride ...

One week ago today was an afternoon spent in fellowship with new friends, playing games, talking, and sharing meals together. Voting down ridiculous sentences, playing scrabble with cards, laughing at mab gab, telephone, and of course, Hannah's hat getting stolen.

One week ago tonight was the formulation of the greatest mafia ever known.

One week ago late tonight was a time of sharing, and the grand entrance of to-be Senator Jason Samuel.

One week ago tomorrow was my birthday, shared with new friends, and a surprise cake!

One week ago tomorrow morning was a special service, where newly-met brothers and sisters from different locations and different denominational leanings shared in worship of God and the study of His Word.

One week ago tomorrow afternoon was an excellent time of discussion with the few who were able to stay a bit later.

One week ago tomorrow afternoon was, well .... when we all had to leave.

He said it best who said,

"We have come together because of two things: our love for the Lord and the common experience of homeschooling."

If you are a homeschooler or homeschool graduate, and you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out!

http://www.homeschoolalumni.org/