The trip has ended for most of us.  Daughter and Friend went on by train
for another adventure, this one in Philadelphia.  Daughter and
Son-in-Law planned to drive from St. Paul to Orlando to CT to
Harrisburg, PA and home.  Plans get changed.  It seems camping in the
Shanandoah exhausted them and they turned for home at Harrisburg.  With
all the weirdness that is part of visiting family and childhood
landscapes, I think its better to be exhausted by camping in the
Shanandoah.

We, the two of us who actually grew up in that part of the country, were
torn by the visit.  The architecture and landscape and some people
interactions tell us it is home and we need to return.  The traffic, the
inescapable crush of people, the intensity of conversation, the urgency
of the pursuit of everything, repells us.  Family pulls and repells in
microcosm.

The stone walls, the architecture, the familiar materials and forms.
Does every architect have some form that he/she delights in and knows it
has nothing to do with what he was taught in school?  Maybe some are
taught about the forms that are closest to their roots in school...is it
good?  Do builders choose to build in ancient forms?  Is it okay to
design from the heart and from the myth?

Its good to be home.  You guys sure are quiet tonight.

-jc