My Town Friday Shoot-Out: Colors of the Rainbow

(my home away from home) Houston, Texas is the 4th largest city in the USA. Situated close to the Mexican border, it is a favorite shopping city for the (if not rich) well-to-do of South and Central Americas. In Houston there is an area of shopping and hotels call the Uptown, as apposed to the downtown, and the heart of this area is The Galleria. Over the years it has had new wings added until today it is a sprawling 3 story mega shopping mall anchored by a Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom's, Macy’s, the very excusive Sacs fifth Avenue (the 3rd floor is designer’s dresses and suits beginning at $1500.00 – don’t ever shop there, even the sales too rich for my blood), and a below ground ice skating rink, and there are 100s of boutiques laced throughout.

Rainbows – yes colors I am getting to it.

The galleria is a favorite shopping place for me. I look (LOOK?) at the new styles, the fashion trends, the glitzy window dressings and the COLORS. Today Marissa and I walked the length and the breadth of the galleria and found COLORS -

Do you remember a time when shoes were white, black, gray or brown? Do you remember when tennis shoes were white? Today - whether for men, women or children look what I found today -

I can’t wear this type of heals any more but aren't the colors wonderful?

to go along with these shoes were

What fun! to wear such color –

every color of the RAINBOW.

Memorable moments -

I am up in the middle of the night when I am supposed to be resting for our final day driving. What to do but to blog with all the lights off to not disturb Marissa. In the morning we will

drive from Jackson Mississippi to Houston, should take about 7 hours but we will be HOME again.This trip has been very good for me, I have spent 15 days with my granddaughter and her cell phone, I saw my mother for 6 days – three of them for 24 hours each. The drive was a little too much for me, even for a person who really enjoys driving 10 days behind the wheel is too much. But in Brazil I don’t get to drive often and I enjoyed renewing my skills and confidence by driving over 3000 miles. ;)

There have been many high spots here are a ‘few’ photos of those memorable moments.

(spending time with Marissa) (driving accross vast farmland) (seeing Mom and Marissa enjoy each other) (meeting Reggie Girl for real) (meeting a great niece and nephew face to face) (having lunch with family ) (seeing the town of Newton Falls OH and taking photos of old homes in Adrian MI.) (taking trips down Memory lane) (finding out the Marissa likes reading books too ) (finding a RED day lily)

(seeing miles and miles of wild flowers - taking photos of a few....)

Friday Shoot-Out – Metal [A Lucky Find]

Since arriving Tuesday morning, I have seen and taken a few photos of metal things while driving around Adrian – A Vietnam era helicopter, new metal roofs atop old churches, a metals steeple, lines of tractors - then I hit pay dirt. Today Marissa and I went downtown, the historical downtown, to see old houses and just walk around. When we got out of the car and put our coins in the old double metal parking meter, we noticed that across the street was the old Adrian Public Library (1909-1978). The library I used during high school research assignments. “…In 1978 it was sold to the Lenawee County Historical Society by the city of Adrian for a dollar ($1.00) and placed the National Register of Historic places – In December of 1980 it opened as the Lenawee County Historical Museum.” (http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com) When you enter the front door the smell is exactly the same as when the building housed a library. Dusty, years of book dust and brain cells hidden in the cracks between the wood beams of the floors – but once inside the fully renovated building there is no left over smell, just two floors of wonderful memorabilia taken from the history of Lenawee county; a children’s toy room, household appliances, a dental office room, a Victorian room, and a room which included two old cars built by citizens of Lenawee County. Enjoy the photos of all the METAL items from everyday life before the advent of Plastics.

Washing Machine?

Home, travel the roads

God Bless America .... God Bless America, Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her

Thru the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, My home sweet home.

Words and music by Irving Berlin

© Copyright 1938, 1939 by Irving Berlin

© Copyright Renewed 1965, 1966 by Irving Berlin

© Copyright Assigned to the Trustees of the God Bless America Fund International Copyright Secured.

All Rights Reserved.

      Marissa and I are now on the last leg of our trip to pick up Mom in Virgina and settle her in our hometown of Adrian Michigan.  On the drive today I was thinking about America - no let me be more specific - The United States of America.   I have traveled a bit, seen Umbria, Italy and Amboise, France, the length of Chile, and many places in between.  I try not to compare Brazil to any of these places and definitely try not to spend all my energy comparing it to the USA,  but it invariably happens despite my best efforts.
      It is hard to be at home in Friburgo or in Rio de Janeiro, or at home in Houston, or Arizona and not compare the weather, the city streets, the architecture, The Food and to not find that one place pleases more than the others in one way or the other.

This past week we have driven through east Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgina, a small corner of West Virgina and Maryland, and today Pennsylvania.   This land is BEAUTIFUL,  there is mile after mile of forests and lakes, marshes and rivers, old and shiny new buildings and bridges, wild flowers and planted gardens, miles of sights that please the eye and the senses.

It doesn't matter if you decide to go north then east or further east before tuning north there are alternative routes through a wide variation of environments, all of them easy to access, and easy to anticipate services and quality of the road.

     I have not taken many pictures this trip but my eyes and mind have registered the beauty. The area north of Greenville SC through the east end of Tennessee is softly rolling hills climbing up the blue ridge mountains, filled with deciduous forest that must blaze in the fall, and as a surprise to me - there are miles and miles of well built, well maintained highways with rest stops along the way, picnic tables, clean restrooms, snacks and pleasing aesthetics.

 

 

    

           

Brazil's federal road system is well non existent. We have driven from the state of Rio de Janeiro to the state of Minas - about a 7 hour drive - equal to driving from Texas to Mississippi -

and once out of the city of Rio the road becomes a narrow, sometimes dirt road, stopping and starting as you wind through one small town after another,   

 there is no federal road in Brazil like the I-10 that stretches from coast to coast in the southern USA allowing for freedom of movement of goods and people from state to state.

I have only a few photos - none of them showing you what I saw, the beauty was there over and over - forming in my mind another new bond with my country - the USA.     super imposed it over Brasil, would the areas of the two countries be about the same? Both government systems are a federal divided into states, but that is were the two stop being similar. There is NO comparison of the roads once outside the main cities of both countries.