Axis Mundi X discussion

I was in Chicago last Friday and I was struck by the beauty of Millenium Park. Here are some pics...I didn't take them, by the way, I lifted them off the web:

http://www.yellow-springs.k12.oh.us/y...

http://www.pps.org/graphics/upo-pages...

http://www.lynnbecker.com/repeat/Gehr...

http://sallygreene.org/Chicago/Chicag...

Don't you think my hometown did a great job updating an old railroad yard into that beautiful space? My friend James and I sat in the square by the bean (that first picture) and took in it all.

I thought later I wished more beautiful public spaces existed. There's nothing as cool as Millenium Park in Milwaukee (although the Calatrava is beautiful).

What are your favorite public spaces and why? What do you do there?

Wollaton Hall is just across town from where I live - very lovely - built in 1588 -

http://www.digicam69.co.uk/wollaton.htm

But a half an hour drive will get me to miles and miles of this stuff

http://www.icr.ac.uk/support_us/suppo...

http://www.mbpost.com/images/large/26...

It's called the Peak District, and spreads from Derbyshire to Yorkshire.

There are two open arboreteum like spaces in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, with a wishing fountain in the middle and exotic high plants all around, with chairs and tables gathered at four ends. Everyone automatically hushes themselves when they walk through. I don't know why. But it makes it a lovely place for reading. I go there and read like this guy (this was taken in one of the spaces, of a nattily attired gentleman):
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/34...

Paul, I am jealous. Those pictures of the Peak District are beautiful. Its on my list of places to go when I get back across the Atlantic. Thanks for sharing.

Wow Paul I hope you know how fortunate you are to be living where there. Gorgeous!

This is about all I see around me:
http://www.worldofstock.com/search_pa...
Ignore the photo with the mountain in the background, we have none of those around me for at least a hundred miles. Even then they don't look like that one.

I've been lurking here for some time, reluctant to pay the price of admittance--which is more time spent at the computer instead of performing life-enhancing tasks like sweeping the kitchen floor and paying the bills.

Finally can't resist. Here's a webcam view of the public beach 5 minutes from where I live now.

http://san-clemente.org/cameras/hqcam...

Right now we're into May Grey and June Gloom so you may not catch the bright sun when you drop in.
Here's what it looks like normally

http://www.daytrippen.com/images/pict...

My favorite public space...my ass. It's a beautiful beige, freckled and enveloped in sumptuous poody fur. Scratch my happy spot just above my tail, and I'll give you an upclose and personal view. Not to worry, I'm very meticulous when it comes to culo-hygienics.

freckled?

well they ain't liver spots and sure as heck aren't clingons...if that's what yer gettin' at. Yeah.....freckled.

kitties don't have freckles... But your ass is a beautiful beige.

Paul's world makes me want to wear velvet gowns and ride sidesaddle.

As long as there aren't any Fabio looking dudes with long freaky hair and naked chests, I'm good to go ... also I'm only 5 feet tall and travel size ... Aye!

Whoo. Sounds good, ladies. Take some pictures.

::::takes out her crossbow and aims at a stag::::

Sorry Charissa, hunting is not allowed any more in England. Not the noble stag nor bold Reynard. Our foxes may now safely roam without a pack of dogs and Tories chasing them over forty parishes until they're a trifle breathless. Crossbows, guns, we don't like them at all in England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politic...

Oh I figured as much... I was just being wantonly politically incorrect. Mostly because I'm wanton. ; )

No hunting you say? Tell that to the street food vendors. I'm not going anywhere near London.

I've got a bunch of favorite public spaces. But here's my top afternoon-drive-from-home:

Multnomah Falls.

Stunning, great to look at from the bottom, a quick quarter-mile hike up to the bridge, a challenging one-mile hike up to the very top, and a restaurant/bar in the lodge at the foot. And there are...six?...other decent waterfalls within a mile on either side of Multnomah (though this is the favorite). It's also a great stop on my way into or out of the Columbia River Gorge.

Ooh, that looks cool, Lisa...

Just bringing this up to the top so you can see what it looks like on a hot, sunny Saturday. We just got back from an hour's walk at the edge of the water.

I love to watch little kids at the water's edge, running back and forth with the slosh, their little legs pumping like chubby sandpipers.

Check out the surfers next to the pier. I never thought I'd live someplace where the high school has a surfing team.

http://san-clemente.org/cameras/hqcam...

I like the grounds of the Washington state capitol building, which is about a mile away from my house:

One of my favorite places in Hawaii this last trip was Waimea Bay. It looks like this during the summer:

How beautifully empty that beach is. And look at the color of the water!

That's my favorite color in the world, Ruth.

Hawaii...
These are two of my favorite beaches, which are not for the casual swimmer or faint of heart. I grew up body surfing at these two on the east end of Oahu. I escaped injury but many injuries occur at these two spots daily. They are the top two body surfing spots for Hawaii: I can’t stress enough that people do get hurt at these two spots (4’+ day known for peeps breaking necks on the sand and lots of lost swim trunks and tops)
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/beaches...
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/beaches...

These are two of my other favorite spots on Maui. Ho’okipa is one of the best surfing spots I had a lot of fun here:
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/beaches...
‘Oheo’ Gulch is spectacular. If you don’t mind camping, the Nation Park is the best place for at least 1 night. The benefit is that after the park closes and before it opens you have the entire National Park ‘Oheo’ Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools) to your selves (few other campers). It is the best to wake up there and experience the beauty.
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/sites_t...

Hi Willie. Yeah, I was warned about Sandy Beach, so I boogie boarded at Kailua instead. I tried surfing once, but it's not for me. I'm a pretty good swimmer, but I'm not a thrill-seeker.

I snorkeled at Hanauma Bay, Waimea Bay, and Shark's Cove. I could snorkel every day, if I lived in Hawaii...

Hanauma Bay:

Has there ever been a more pointless name for a beach than Sandy Beach? Is it next to Watery Bay?

Dang...Comment withdrawn then, bonnie lassie.

In Chicago we had heroin needle beach. In Milwaukee we have Watch Out For Fat Guys Who Take Off Their Shirts beach.

I think I would choose Fat Guys over heroin needles. At my library, we had the heroin needle restroom, otherwise known as the Men's room. We had to learn proper procedures for dealing with sharps - using tongs or pieces of cardboard to pick up the syringe.





Hey, I know! Let's talk about Hawaii some more!

Only if you start drinking.

Hi Jackie,

Hanauma Bay was about 5 minutes from where I used to live. I used to enjoy going in the morning before the crowds to feed the fish. Now your not supposed to feed the fish and they have a lot more to go through to get in. Of course all the tour guides bring in fish food and they even sell it at the snack shop. There is a spot to the east of the bay called toilet bowl that is fun to watch. I have never jumped in. I'm to much of a chicken.


I love snorkeling. Some of the best snorkeling I have done has been on the big island, but I don't remember what the spots were called I was to small.

Thanks for the pics.

I'm currently enjoying some chocolate Haagen-Daaz, but once I've finished that, I'll make myself a Pog Mai Tai.

You can't be too toasted yet, RA. You're still making pretty cogent arguments on behalf of No Child Left Behind over in Mini Am... Drink up!

Thanks, Jackie. But I'm slightly hyperverbal. Even worse when I've been drinking. Pretty soon I'll move to inarticulate exclamations followed by the dancing you suggested.

Ice cream and alcohol on a Saturday night? Your husband is a lucky man. You're a keeper.

Thanks, RA, but I do subject him to a lot of cheesy music...

You do. I take it back. He's the keeper.

I know. He's a very patient man, with a good sense of humor. Lucky me. No, seriously...

In the San Francisco panhandle we have heroin needle children's playground. Very prestigious.

Sandy Beach on Maui almost killed me. I got slammed by a wave while coming out of the surf and started to be dragged out to sea all upside down. It tore my suit off and almost drowned me. Luckily my friend Darien saw what happened and pulled me out. That was scary as fuck.

Yikes, Charissa. Glad you got rescued and lived to tell the tale. That's why I avoided the Sandy Beach on Oahu. I heard tales of people getting pile-driven into the sand, and didn't care for a neck injury.
I don't mind a few scrapes from coral, or even banging into rocks while watching a turtle, but I am in no ways danger girl. Fortunately for me, I float like a cork. Just call me Corky!

Wait, no, don't...It's the mai tai talking, please ignore the above request!

yeah, pile driven is a very good example of what can happen to you on that beach. I'm uncertain what the draw is that keeps people returning there after witnessing what can happen. It's mostly locals who hang out there. I guess it's some kind of badge of honor to learn how to swim there without dying.

On the other hand, the swim I had while I was out in the ocean there was amazing. So... :::shrug:::

There are amazing swims at a multitude of beaches in Hawaii, including safe ones that don't have dangerous surf.

Glad you had a good experience to go with the bad, Charissa...

as always in life, jackie.... the bitter with the sweet... inextricably entwined, mais non?

Bien sur, ma cherie...

Tallulah Falls in Georgia: http://inspirezone.org/tallulah.html

Black Rock Mountain, also in Georgia:
http://inspirezone.org/blackrock.html

I spent a summer working at a camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Mountain City, GA, and we loved to go to both places on our days off.