Urban Voyager

Heaven help me, I love being in the glass and concrete and steel canyons of downtown Houston. More and more I enjoy the opportunity to take care of business amidst the soaring office towers that reach up to touch the sky. There is something exhilarating about walking amidst these majestic giants. There is a throbbing rhythm of the cars and buses going by. I feel alive here.

And the wonderful public art... those oversized sculptures of every sort. In front of one building is a forty foot high bass fiddle, with the suggestion of the player behind. In front of the Hobby Center are two sculptured columns with human faces formed at different levels looking out at this tremendous city.

At yet another corner is a delightfully modern art sculpture... definitely tongue-in-cheek which provides a different scenario from each side of the piece.

There are theaters and restaurants, chic shops... I feel energized when I am in the downtown area and I feel alive.

Maybe that happens in part because there one walks from one place to place. It is too much trouble to go two blocks over or maybe three in a car to conduct business. I prefer to do without it if possible, because life takes on a different pace when I am walking. I become aware of things that are just a blur in my peripheral vision when I am driving there. I discover the small things I miss otherwise: the extraordinary variety of people I see, wonderful architectural details, a fountain or a statue I had missed before, numerous images of buildings and signs piled one on top of the other as I survey the urban landscape in one direction or another. And the smells of the food from the restaurants I walk by are enough to drive me insane. They all smell so good.

Long story short, I experience the world about me so much more intensely when I am downtown. The sights and sounds and smells and colors and the crowds of people... a wonderful kaleidescope of them all mixed together, never the same from one moment to another, thrill the senses in an unforgettable way.