Mike's Travels: My Worlds Collide! News at 11!

Today, all my worlds collided. Carol and I are in Boston for the American Institute of Architect's convention and the planets were perfectly aligned. I was in touch with architecture, music, storytelling, movies, history, and family at the same time. This morning we took a boat tour of the architecture along the Charles River that divides Boston from Cambridge, Mass. Famous buildings that I studied at OSU came to life when I saw Alvar Alto's Baker House at M.I.T. and minutes later passed under the bridge featured in the recent movie "21" about an M.I.T. student. On the trip we saw the Boston City Hall which was the talk of architects and the public in the 60's as "Brutalistic Architecture" and the recently completed "Big Dig" (the massive tunnel project through Downtown Boston). Boston is a paradise for architects (and movie/TV buffs). Signs about Mystic (River), buildings you see in Boston Legal, the Harvard, MIT, and Boston University campuses that have been portrayed in film are all front and center. This afternoon our second tour was to Beacon Hill and the Boston Commons This was a tour of the State House (Capital) and the row houses of Beacon Hill. The row houses spanned time from the 1700's to late 1800's. The neighborhood was where John Adams lived with his family before he became President. It was also home for a time to Robert Frost (the author of "Road Not Taken") and one of the current homes of our old Bud, Senator John Kerry. The former home of Frost has since been divided into Condos. A one bedroom recently sold for $500,000.00! Some of the homes (i.e. Kerry) go for $11,000,000.00 (without yards!).

Tonight was the cap. We got tickets to the Boston Pops featuring my favorite storyteller, Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegon fame. Yes, I like country music, I like Rock, I like ballads, and I like Musicals. But I have to say that the Boston Pops perform at the top! It was a rare treat. Garrison told stories of humor, of family, and of faith. He speaks to my past and the thoughts of my childhood as if he had been in my brain. It was magical. Enough for now. I will revisit all this.

Today, I spent the day with my architecture, my music, my history, my movies and the love of my life. It doesn't get better than that!

Also: Today is the anniversary of my son, Nate and his wife, Lori. Happy Anniversary!

What a day!