This is a simple, real, and natural scene of a quiet moment frozen in time

Every summer I buy a new composition notebook and fill it with ideas, plans, and dreams for the summer. I start out with a list of what I'd like to do and then break it down first by month and then by week. I try to get ideas from the rest of the family as to what they envision for the summer.Thomas had said he wanted to visit Art Museums and we decided to try and visit one each month. He also wanted to do at least one college visit. Tuesday we were able to do one of each.  We got up early and drove to Cincinnati to visit their Art Museum. The museum is located in an area of Cincinnati called Mt. Adams.

 It's hard to describe the feeling when I walked in this room. It is quite impressive. What was breathtaking was what you could see in the doorway at the other end. In this first photo you get a glimpse.

This!

I didn't take a picture of the explanation and I couldn't remember anything so I had to look it up and was able to find this on the museums website:

Altarpiece with scenes from the Old and New Testaments
Artist Jan van Hemessen and Katharina van Hemessen
Date: 1550's
Place: Flanders/Europe
Medium: Oil on Panel

                                                                     and a side view

Right off to the side was this chapel. I tend to take too many pictures but this day I did not take enough. I especially wish I would have taken more photos of the signs that explained/ told the stories behind the paintings. I am grateful we bought a book with some of the highlights of the collection so I can reference ones like this.
Title: Falconer
Medium: Fresco transferred to canvas
Date 1125-1150

                                                           

How can it be that I did not take a picture of the painting by Childe Hassam from Massachusetts in the late 1800's I do remember standing there reading this and being deeply touched by the last line:

This is a simple, real, and natural scene of a quiet moment frozen in time.

I read that and just stood there contemplating that thought. Isn't that what attracts me to art and photos and even this blog. Trying to capture the moment and treasure it. 

This also moved me. The title of the sculpture is Eve Disconsolate. 

                                                                       and up close

The artist Hiram Powers was from Cincinnati and his companion sculpture Eve Tempted is on exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. 

On the way out of Mount Adams, (which reminded both Thomas and I a bit of San Francisco), we made a quick stop at the Krohn's Conservatory, picked up some Chik-Fil-A and were off to Oxford, Ohio to take a first look at Miami University. We had to deal with a downpour as we left Cincinnati and just as the GPS stated we had arrived at Miami U it was a real "gully-washer".

 Fortunately, the rain stopped, we found Admissions easily, met up with a Professor in the Art Department, were taken on a brief tour, received some information on an Art History major, talked to a lovely lady at the college's art museum, had lunch and Graeter's ice cream in downtown Oxford and were back safely home at 8:30.

 It was a wonderful day of discovering new things and enjoying the company of my youngest son. Thank you God!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real 2 Days in Houston

It was a whirlwind 2 days in Houston. I flew out of Columbus on the 4th of July. The flight was through Chicago for the best chance of making it to Houston on standby. Flying out of Columbus was a breeze. I have come to appreciate the Columbus airport. It is clean, easy to maneuver, and you can get something to eat without breaking the bank. Stepping off the plan in Chicago I immediately felt the craziness that was to come. My flight was scheduled out in about 45 minutes but as I watched my United App, the number of seats went down and the number of passengers on standby went up. Not surprisingly I did not make it out on that flight, or the next one that was an hour later. That left one more flight out at 7:30 pm. At this point I had to make some choices. I talked to the United Agent at the gate. He looked things over and said there wasn't much chance I would make the next flight. I think I was #15 on the standby list with about 10 seats. He suggested I fly to Dallas and get out of Dallas to Houston first thing in the morning as he said it did not look good for getting out of Chicago in the morning either. 
I walked around a bit thinking and praying about what to do. I stopped and asked at the information booth about flying back to Columbus that evening. This lady suggested I fly to San Antonio and rent a car and make the 2 hour drive to Houston so,  arrive at 10:30pm, try to rent a car, and drive in the dark from one big city to another in an area I don't know....ahhh no thank you...not an option. At this point I called Gary and he suggested I see about buying the ticket. I did... $509...also not an option. When I went up to see about buying a ticket this third lady I talked to was pretty much like, "what were you thinking trying to get to Houston" She shared she didn't think anyone should try standby unless there were a good 20 seats open. I was reminded that life sometimes involves taking chances.

Pretty much all the flights, Dallas, Denver (another place to fly into and spend the night), Columbus, and of course the last one to Houston were right about 7:30. The whole time I was talking to God and was at peace with whatever would happen. I would be disappointed if I didn't make it but knew it was God's plan. It was strange because I had pretty much made up my mind that it made sense to just go back to Columbus when all of the sudden I was energized and the thought in my head was I had made it this far and I wasn't giving up, even if I had to sleep in the airport, even if I ended up flying back to Columbus the next day. I called Gary, put some relaxing music on my kindle, opened up my kindle book, and settled in for the wait. About  45 minutes before boarding time I went to the gate and started the wait. Right before boarding time they started calling people up for standby. I believe 5 seats were taken and then they kept calling names and no one stepped forward. Finally they called my name. I was almost in tears I was so happy. I texted Colleen right away and let her know I was on my way. And so at about 10:40 pm I arrived at the George Bush International Airport and there stood my sweet Colleen. I felt bad since she had flown in at 7 and had to wait for me but she was a good sport about it. By the time we got back to her neck of the woods, we were hungry but everything was closed so we went back to her apartment, made oatmeal, and called it a day.

  

Flight Attendants

                                Watching Colleen pin on Hannah's wings was a special moment!
                                   I still can't believe these two young ladies are flight attendants.

"Pining Hannah is her cousin Flight Attendant Colleen Korte based out of Houston"

I am grateful that I got to spend an extra night with Colleen. 

We decided to go to the Woodlands Mall and have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then walked down along the Woodlands Waterway. It was a fun way to spend the evening. As it turned out Columbus natives, 21 Pilots were playing a concert at the amphitheater and you could hear the music in the park. We had fun watching all the people and listening to the warm up band but by the time it was time for 21 Pilots we were hot and in need of hydration and so had to leave. I believe it was still about 90 degrees at 8 pm.  

I decided we needed a selfie while we sat and chatted

Boaters enjoying the concert

Along the Waterway...getting ready to head back.

Woodlands Amphitheater 

Sunset on the Waterway

The first night while I was sleeping I felt this tapping on my back. I opened my eyes to see Rafiki, Colleen's cat looking at me like "hey, wake up, let's play!"

Rafiki