Accidental sundials tell us what time it is

The part of the sundial that casts the marking shadow is called the "gnomon." After the Fall equinox, at our latitude of 45', the sun has fallen into the lower quarter of the sky in its daily transit, and shadows compete with the objects that cast them. Looking south at 2 p.m. on a quick break, it seems like the light etches away the substance of the pedestrian, and he becomes a statue by the Italian sculptor Giacometti. The gnomon becomes no man.
(Sculpture link to Happy Faces Chicago blog)

The light changes

Low sun in the early afternoon sends signals to the pituitary gland and hypothalamus...Winter is approaching. Eat more carbs. Get ready to hibernate.

Shadows lengthen

Taking the pulse of the city.

Taking life in stride

Steppin' on the sidewalks.

Autumn color, skyway

You don't think of real Fall colors and skyways seriously. Really.

When clouds are in the buildings and the work is in the sky...

Clouds reflected of the row of buildings on 3rd Ave. So. ... but the sky directly above is intense, brilliant blue. It looks like the clouds are painted on.

A run of morning skyline photos begins here

Okay, if you visit this blog you are starting to see this view in many kinds of light and weather. But as my wife and I observed of the downtown skyline coming back from Taylor's Falls on Sunday, it is tidy, nicely proportioned. It is artsy and substantial both, colorful and even bold in moderation, if that isn't an oxymoron. We had our run of 80's eye-catching experiments and now as the economy declares a holiday for major construction, we can enjoy the rhythm and elan of our skyline.

Urban colors, skyways rationale

These colors are fall colors, right? I think they are very urban. Gritty. Concrete taupe and cadaver white, warning curb yellow, vapor lamp sulpher and sodium, industrial paint chosen to color code function in chalky primaries, not to enhance the view. It is the back room of the skyways, the parking ramps at the periphery that actually helped motivate the city to support Les Park's original vision once it grew past any individual's vision or control. A study done in the late 50's proposed that the inner core of the downtown is better served by keeping the parking on the edge of the downtown, and that could be accomplished if there were clean, safe well lit walkways to serve the office workers and shoppers. The skyways filled the bill.

They still do, and the feeder skyways from ramps to business and government nodes provide an interesting contrast in tone to the core armature of carpeted paths making their way from restaurant hub to retail center to office megaplex.

When I started walking the skyways in earnest, in February of this year, I made a point to travel to the furthest points of all the outlier skyways, and do it early and thoroughly. It helps that I am something of a loner by nature, because there are stretches that go for blocks where you might only see one or two other people...at least, during the middle of the day. At the end of the day, all these extremities pulse with the bustle of getting out of work and getting home as quickly, safely, and in as climate-controlled and well-lit a manner as possible.

In that respect, we have an amenity here, folks. A major, low profile, flyoverland amenity that just sits there and works for us while we make fun of it, or roll our eyes about "habitrails" for the urban worker rodents...

Is there beauty in the photo above? That is in the eye of the beholder. Is there amenity in it? That is in the ease with which I park and lock up without looking furtively around me, and head for the nearest skyway entrance less than a block away, without thinking about the pain that distance would cause in 20-below weather.

Well, I guess I am on my soapbox. And it's two stories high.