A Work in Progress

It's the Small Things

It sometimes (well, quite often actually) feels like not much attention is paid to people who prefer to walk rather than drive.  At least not where I live.  There are places in this city where I can't even go, as the bus routes don't extend that far.  There are neighborhoods as well as business districts that don't even have sidewalks.  At times it's extremely exasperating.  This city has been designed for drivers only I often feel.  So when something nice happens, I have to make note of it.  Okay, I realize this photo is not really very awe-inspiring.  Yes, it's only a bus shelter.  Many of the bus shelters have been vandalized to the point that the city has just taken them away altogether (annoying on particularly wet or cold days).  However, this shelter on my university campus has been maintained quite nicely.  What I want to point out, however, is the fresh new sidewalk that you see (perhaps it's hard to tell which is new--the pavement was wet this morning--the sidewalk to the right of the shelter).  I've worked at the university for ten years, and that shelter has always stood on a slab of concrete in the middle of this grassy area (between sidewalk and street).  Now that's just fine, but when it's wet, or worse, when there's lots of snow, it's not so fun to trudge through to get to the bus stop.  Someone very kindly finally thought of us pedestrians/bus riders and extended the main sidewalk to reach not only the shelter but in front of it as well.  Now if it is shoveled this winter, I will be one very happy person indeed!

A reminder that anyone interested in winning a copy of Tasha Alexander's A Fatal Waltz please leave your name in the comment area here by the end of the evening.  I'll drawn five names tomorrow morning.  I'm afraid this is only open to US and Canadian residents this time around. 

Many thanks for the input on which book to choose next.  I'm keeping the stack next to the bed, since I want to read them all now!  I've decided to choose Agnes Desarthe's Chez Moi to begin with.  I thought I should pick another book in translation (the main reason, though of course the story sounds good) and then it happens to be fairly short, which is sometimes a good thing (since I seem to be reading at a snail's pace).  I like the idea of a novel set in a restaurant.  I've not gotten very far yet, but Myriam, the narrator, seems sort of prickly.  It'll be interesting to see how the story develops! 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Although you can't really tell very well from this photo --it is snowing here today (well, of course you can see the snow, but you can't actually see it falling, which it is).  Two days before the official start of spring, we are under winter weather advisories. So, I say, if it is going to snow, it might as well snow enough to close down the university system.  Then I can stay inside all day tomorrow drinking hot chocolate, and reading a book.  But will I be so lucky?

...But What is It?

    

This is Omaha's downtown Mall.  There is more of it, but this is what you see from the public library, which faces it.  There is some interesting artwork there.  I kind of like the sculpture in the bottom right of the photo.  Now if you'll just look under the bridge to the left of those bushes you'll notice (if you really look closely), something white in the water.  Hmmm.  Shall we take a closer look?

Let's just follow the path around.  Is it debris floating in the water?  Looks kind of strange.  Well, this is what two of my friends and myself thought when we spotted it a couple of nights ago as we were out walking. 

Let's take a look from the bridge.  Looks rather skeletal to me.  It is anchored to the bottom of the pond somehow.  It just lazily floats around keeping the fish, ducks, and muskrats company.  Sorry, didn't spot any muskrats today when I was there.  They must have been hiding somewhere in the bushes.  They put on quite a show the other night.  So, any guesses from the general public?  I am sorry I forgot to go and take a look at the artist's name and the title when I was there earlier.  I'll get it next time I am there.  This is sort of morbid, but curious looking as well.  I wonder what else is floating around down there that we missed...

A Flatiron Building

This is our very own flatiron building.  A miniature version of the one in New York City, I'm sure.  I have never been to NYC other than in the airport, but I imagine this one to be much smaller.  Can you tell the shape very well through the trees?  I took this photo a few weeks back as I was walking to the library.  I think it is a really cool building. 

No one makes buildings like this anymore.  Personally I prefer the older architecture of our downtown to the buildings that are being built out in the newer sections of the city.  I live east close to the Missouri River, but Omaha is expanding west sucking up smaller towns along the way (to their utmost dismay and I am very sorry for these people, who once thought they lived in a small town).  As someone who walks *a lot*, I find it poor city planning when you can no longer walk, or take public transportation and then walk to your destination.  I can do that in my section of the city, but that isn't really possible in other places.  In other places there is not much in the way of green areas and certainly no sidewalks.  You simply have to get in your car and drive from strip mall to strip mall, entering cookie cutter buildings that look like the same buildings in any other place in any other city as they are all chain stores.  There is not as much personality anymore, it seems. 

Anyway, I think this building has loads of personality.  It was built about 1912 and originally was a hotel.  Now it has offices in it.  The narrow part of the building in the bottom front has a restaurant in it.  It looks rather ritzy, but I have never eaten there.  Whenever I walk by there just seem to be people getting the place ready to serve meals, so I guess I must be coming by too early. 

I came across a book in the library where I work about city planning, and the use of pedestrian areas and green space.  The one town that has stuck out in my mind from that book as an excellent example of good city planning is Amsterdam.  They have pedestrian areas, and bike paths.  I think to ride a bike in Omaha would be to take your life in your hands.  It can be hard enough at times to just be a pedestrian!  I think as Omaha grows we are encountering urban sprawl, which I personally think is not such a great thing.  There is not a sense of community in many places.  I prefer cities laid out differently.  Vienna is one of my most favorite cities.  It is beautiful.  It is clean and organized.  It has excellent public transportation and lots of parks/green spaces all over the city.  And the architecture is lovely.  People walk and ride bicycles.  Too bad we don't have more of that here.