Musings

We saw lots of rain, then sunshine.

We saw scanty Krumholtz-ed trees, then open pasture, then scrub.

We strolled past Santa Fe’s Cathedral Basilica and dined across the side-street.

We are so lucky.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Fenced-in Catholicism

I was too tied up and boring today to even walk, let alone create a fresh/fun foto for this space.

Instead, I give you an interior view of the Sears, Roebuck building we toured the other Tuesday.

This is a view to the west, and the windows look north onto Ponce. The floor is original. Workers had to remove six layers* of carpeting, we were told, to reveal similar maple strip flooring on a lower “shopping” level.

The pillars are original and the floor above is poured concrete. Boards were used to hold the wet concrete, then removed, leaving the stripes you see in the ceiling.

To ensure that the dust created by construction doesn’t wreck the now-exposed wood floors, the developer bought a wood-floor zamboni, and the floors are cleaned frequently.

* Can you imagine the amount of trapped yuck in that much carpeting? Ick.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Interior stratigraphy

View WSW from Beltline bridge over North Avenue (33.77110,-84.36391).

No reason WikiPee doesn’t have this right, so this nightclub used to be an excelsior mill. I had only a nebulous idea what excelsior is, and finally looked it up. Wood wool. Little fine curls of timber. So, it was a factory for reducing trees to fluff.

Strange what repurposing can make (historical) bedfellows….

Note how the strange weather “cut off” the tops of the downtown buildings—this was soon after the rain stopped….

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on More de-manufacturing along the BeltLine

I’m feeling…static Friday.

A recent in-law party has led me to…a (temporary?) fascination with Manhattans.

My variation: rye (not “regular” bourbon)—the “original” recipe.

Which raises the question: Are there non-HFC maraschino cherries out there (in the accessible world)?

In the meantime, bottoms up!

Posted at 7:12 PM | 5 Comments »

The Fates intervened in our neighbors’ lives, and they offered us the opportunity to tour, in their stead, Ponce City Market, the former City Hall East, the former Sears, Roebuck, and I don’t know what else. The building is something like 2 million square feet, with 56K panes of glass. This is an interior wall, I think dating to the 1920s, the original building phase. Interestingly, this building, adjacent to the railroad bed that’s now the BeltLine, which hosted a spur that went into the building, is built atop springs. That are still producing. Some goes into storm sewers; some is used as grey water. Anyway, fascinating tour….

BTW, the developer, Jamestown, did Chelsea Market and bunches of others; they seemed to know what they were doing at all scales, mega to user to neighborhood to environmental….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

Here’s a condoized ex-warehouse/manufacturing building, right by the RR right-of-way that’s now the BeltLine walkway. This area used to be a prime zone for manufacturing, but now it’s where people want to live—great sky views, quiet (no trains any more), now with bicyclists, dog-walkers, joggers, and skate-boarders….

And trees, shrubs, and grass….

Posted at 9:27 PM | Comments Off on Location cubed

Reaching back to the weekend, we motored home via Experiment GeeA—named for the UGA Experiment Station there. Sleepy place on a rainy winter Sunday afternoon.

Posted at 9:24 PM | Comments Off on Between the wiper-swipes

Strange medallion decoration on the bridge crossing Clear Creek at the south end of Orme Park. The other day. When it was sunny.

No sunshine today; overcast became rain, then wind (shudder). A tornado messed up Adairsville, about 40 miles down I-75 from Ringgold, which got hit in April of last year. Temps are dropping from about 70°F this morning (weird) to a low of 35°F predicted overnight….

Posted at 6:45 PM | 3 Comments »

The Beltline along the abandoned RR by Piedmont Park, glorious in the winter sunshine today….

Date night here in ATL. We took a generous gift card over to Rathbun’s, one of the premier “fancy” places here in town, and enjoyed a lovely meal. With valet parking—soooo Downton.

Posted at 8:59 PM | Comments Off on Adventures in the greater neighborhood

I’ve been wandering lately (aka procrastination)—via satellite views on GoogleMaps. I found the Costa Concordia on its side next to the Isola del Giglio….

And I found a grey-face? Maybe? Is this an intentional distortion? An artifact of shadows?

This is on a partly destroyed cold war missile installation inland on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, called Tolchester. Still find the face mystifying.

Posted at 7:23 PM | 4 Comments »