Saturday, October 10, 2009

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina was once my home, but the changes are dramatic since I left 37 years ago. I have always wanted to come back for a visit, but I never dreamed of coming back here to live. Life sure throws some strange curve balls, and we will just have to see how this one plays out.

In any case, The Queen City is quite a lovely place. Unlike the open prairie of Colorado's Front Range, where you can see for miles; Charlotte seems like a forest. Trees everywhere, which seems so strange to me. Since I left, Charlotte became a major banking center, home to Bank of America (formerly NationsBank, formerly NCNB, formerly North Carolina National Bank), and Wachovia (now part of Wells Fargo). Since we taxpayers have had to bail out these big banks, I feel like I own part of these majestic building that stand tall into the North Carolina skies. The top photo shows the base of BoA's headquarters at the main intersection of "Uptown Charlotte", the city's central business district. The streets are Trade & Tryon, and there are interesting statues on each corner facing into the middle of the intersection.

The next picture is a piece of public art that is across from BoA, and is a huge disk-shaped sculpture. Finally we have a directional sign in Uptown, pointing people to various points of interest.

I'm Baaack!

Greetings to all. After a six week long hiatus, I figured I would write a short post before getting back into the swing of things here. I have been, and continue to be quite busy. I am currently working a project for a company in North Carolina, and am under enormous pressure to get a product delivered by the first part of December. So these musings will be from 700 feet above sea level rather than my previous 6000 feet. The difference is amazing. Last night in Douglas County, Colorado, it was snowing and in the teens for a low. Here in the Carolina Piedmont region, it was clear and 77 degrees, a 60 degree spread!

Last night, I had a crazy notion to drive over to the high school where I graduated back in 1971 to watch a football game. Well, it turns out it was their 50-year anniversary homecoming. The poor little school they played had just a few people there, no band, and they got clobbered. Felt kind of sorry for them, but I suppose that is why they were chosen as the opponent for homecoming...gotta have a win for the alumni!