9/11memorial

It's been nearly a dozen years since terrorists attacked our country on September 11, 2001 and killed nearly 3,000 people.

The National September 11 Memorial commemorates the lives lost, recognizes those who survived and allows a place for visitors to come together in the spirit of unity. 

Opened on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, the 9/11 Memorial consists of two pools set in the footprints of the original twin towers. Thirty foot waterfalls cascade from the four walls of each pool into the pools' centers. The names of the victims are inscribed in bronze along the parameter of the pools.

Construction continues to this day on the redeveloped 1 World Trade Center which is located just beyond the north pool. This building will be the tallest in the U.S. standing 1,776 feet. Its top spiral was installed last month. 

Just east of the south pool, 4 World Trade Center will rise 72 floors and stand 977 feet tall.

Another gem

It's really odd how sometimes it seems like you were just meant to stumble upon something meaningful.  So was the case when we visited a Macy's department store in Philadelphia and happened upon a woman explaining an organ that was in the store.  Yes, an organ, but not just any ole organ - The Wanamaker Grand Organ to be exact.

The organ itself is a beauty but the irony in stumbling upon it is that this organ was built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for no other than the 1904 ST LOUIS World's Fair.  As a resident of the metro St. Louis area, I thought this was quite a coincidence.

With more than 10,000 pipes, its construction was on such a lavish scale that it cost $105,000.  That's a lot of dough for the early 1900's.  It's cost actually forced the builder into bankruptcy, but in 1909,Philadelphia  merchant John Wanamker bought it for his new Philadelphia emporium.

It took 13 freight cars to ship the organ from St. Louis, and its installation took two years.

On June 22, 1911, at the exact moment when England's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey, the Grand Organ was first heard in the Philly store's seven-story atrium.

Although it is massive in size, the tone was judged inadequate to fill the room so Wanamaker hired 40 full time employees and Supervisor William Boone Flemng to enlarge the instrument.  It was made with superb craftsmanship - its largest pipe being made of flawless Oregon sugar-pine three inchesthink and   more than 32 feet long.  

More than 8,000 pipes were added between 1911 and 1917, and between 1924 and 1930 an additional 10,000 pipes were added, bringing it to a total of 28,482 pipes today.

A console with six ivory keyboards controls it with 42 foot controls.  This console weighs 2.5 tons and the entire instrument weighs 287 tons.

Over the years, great organists have been invited to play the organ.  If you're ever in Philly, check with the Macy's staff to find out if someone is planning to play the organ while you are in town.

It is now a National Historic Landmark and is valued in excess of $71 million.

A vacation gem

Occasionally while on vacation you run across something unexpected.  When we wandered into the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History's exhibit of the Windland Smith Rice International Awards, I knew we stumbled onto a vacation gem!.

I had never heard of this competition, but apparently it's an annual photography competition that was launched in 1996.  The top winners in each photographic category as well as a few of the Highly Honored images are showcased in an exhbit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural Science's Special Exhibit Hall located in Washington, D.C.

These images are enlarged and printed to a size from 2 x 3 foot to nearly 4 x 6 foot.  The images themselves are outstanding, but when viewed in this large format, they are simply incredible.

The Winland Smith International Awards exhibit will be displayed until March 2014. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is  located on the National Mall, 1000 Madison Drive, NW, Washington, DC.  It is open every day of the year (except December 25) and is FREE to the public!

A lesson in adaptability

I hadn't realized how predictable and routine my daily life has become until we ventured out to the east coast for vacation.

A typical day at home would result in me working out, eating breakfast and jumping into my writing.  An hour or two later,  I may take a shower, eat some lunch, but the rest of the day is usually spent writing. Since I work out of my house, I rarely leave my house during the day. Occasionally I may drive, anywhere from 2-10 miles away (that takes literally 2 to 10 minutes) to take some photos or interview subjects for articles.  

Then in the late afternoon II walk the dog and head out in my car again to run some errands around town. The furthest I drive is about five miles where I park my car in a giant parking lot and walk less than 100 yards into a grocery store or big box store.  Then I drive my car a maximum of five miles back home, pull in the garage and I'm usually home for the evening.

At night I may walk around the neighborhood to get some exercise, but that's about the extent of my daily walking.

In comparison, the folks who live in the Washington D.C. area have a a much different daily lifestyle.  

People walk everywhere...24/7.  There's plenty of cars on the streets, but a huge amount of people use their feet as their primary mode of transportation.  If they aren't walking, they are taking the metro rail or bus to locations throughout the city.  You can imagine how much of "a fish out of water" I felt when we arrived in D.C.

But as they say...while in Rome...so I took my first metro rail ride.

I must admit that just the entrance to the subway was intimidating.  It was easily a three story descent via an escalator into the subway station.  As I stood precariously on my step, I couldn't help but think about how easily it would be to accidentally tumble forward and down into the subway abyss.  But I managed to keep my balance along with the 50 or so other people descending with me.

At the metro ticket machines, we spent about 10 minutes dissecting every detail of the directions.  Eventually after absorbing it all, we entered our money and printed out our tickets.

We descended down another escalator to the platform for our train as we stood next to a few dozen others listening to iPods or reading a book as they waited. (Of course I couldn't resist striking up a conversation with some random woman waiting to board)

The train arrived and quickly everyone boarded.  That's one thing I picked up on - you better get on fast because the train doesn't wait long before the doors shut and it's on its way.

The train stopped twice before we reached our final stop.  We exited the train and rode up another steep escalator as we emerged onto the street front where we joined a mass of people walking along the street.

As with most new experiences, it was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience because we had never done this before.  Every step of the way was something new to learn.

The whole experience made me realize how routine my own life at home has become, and actually, how very glad I was to be thrown out of my comfort zone.  Although it made me feel somewhat uncomfortable at the time not knowing if I was boarding the right train, paying the correct amount for a ticket or getting off at the right stop, I think it's good to experience that uncertainty and anxiety.

Life is never going to have a perfect roadmap to follow, and you can rest assured that there will be detours to consider and potholes to maneuver around along the way.  Getting too comfortable and set in your ways and being afraid of change is no way to live life.  Change occurs every day and you better be prepared to adapt.  

I don't ever want to be one of those people who is so fearful to try a new experience or learn something new that they pass up  a new opportunity or let life pass them by as they sit in their safe and predictable world.

A must see if you visit St. Louis

I don't drive into downtown St. Louis daily, but I do get down there about once a week or so, but I never tire of this view.   The St. Louis Gateway Arch is an amazing piece of art and architecture.  

If you've never visited this amazing feat of construction, here's some interesting facts about it.

Did you know?

The arch is 63 stories tall

Its foundation is about 60 feet deep

It weighs 17,246 tons

It's made out of steel and concrete

There are 142 steel sections

The top is 17 feet wide

There are 16 windows at the top of the arch.  Each one is only 7 inches by 27 inches because over 500 pounds of pressure was required to jack the north and south legs apart to place the last four foot section into the peak of the arch.  Larger windows couldn't have withstood the pressure.

The project began in 1963

The last piece of the arch structure was put into place Oct. 28, 1965

The North leg was comleted first and opened in July 1967, the south leg opened in May 1968

Under the arch is a visitor's center where guests can pay to ride to the top of the arch

Operation Shower - An organization you've probably never heard about!

Operation Shower was born a little over six years ago when its CEO, LeAnn Morrissey wanted to give back in some way to those serving our country when someone asked her to send a card to four women who were all pregnant yet their spourses were deployed.

Instead of sending a simple card, LeAnn set out, with the help of friends and family members, to send each mom-to-be a "shower in a box."

A local middle school volleyball team collected donations!

She received so much help support putting the boxes together and such overwhelming messages of thanks from the moms that she knew she had to do this for other military spouse moms-to-be.

 As of May 2013, the Operation Shower team has, through the generous donations of individuals and corporations and through volunteer-power, hosted showers for over 1300 women and families.  They have hosted 34 unit-wide showers on military bases and other locations across the country for families in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and National Guard.

And these aren't little cake and punch get togethers.  Operation Shower goes "all out!" Check out their Facebook page to see the gorgeous themed baby showers they throw for the moms-to-be.

Think you'd like to help with the cause? There are numerous ways you can help Operation Shower.

• Spread the Word - just doing as I am and blogging about it or sharing an Operation Shower Facebook post
• Attend one of the upcoming showers - they are hosted all over the country.  If one is going to be in your town, volunteer to help.  Volunteers can help with decorations, set-up or clean-up
• Help secure party rentals for local showers 



The team challenged their teachers to a game for the Operation Shower Fundraiser Finale




• Start a campaign at your child's school, your church or any other group

Visit OperationShower.org for more details and be sure to "like" them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter and Pinterest!

A little drive along the Oahu coast

I thought you might enjoy a very short drive along the coast of Oahu.  We visited Oahu last year for our 25th anniversary.  This place is stunningly beautiful as you can see!  Enjoy!