Eero Saarinen's Religious Masterpiece

Should any reader of these pages also have the misfortune of following me on Twitter, you may have noticed our rantings to the wee hours of the night about the writing of a certain paper for a certain class that shall remain nameless. The subject of this paper, by our own choosing, was Eero Saarinen's design for the campus and chapel of Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. Readers may recognize Eero Saarinen as the architect of the St. Louis Arch. Anyhow, Saarinen's design for the chapel has grown on me a great deal since beginning the paper. It is unabashedly modern, all of Saarinen's works were, but it has a certain artfulness about it. Light is controlled successfully, and the traditional liturgical layout is respected. In some ways, it reminds me of the simplicity of a Carthusian monastery.

Big Sky

I think there are some interesting peculiarities that set Michigan apart from the rest of the Midwest. We Michiganders seem (in general) to possess a peninsular mentality. Due to the enigmatic workings of geography, the state is decidedly cut off from the rest of the country. We are not on the main east-west trucking routes that characterize the rest of the states in our nations midsection. We are bordered mostly by the Great Lakes. To me, at least, this geography makes me feel protected in Michigan. There are hundreds of spots along the coast where you can have your back to a forest and look out over the water - it feels safe and serene and primordial.

Indiana, and the rest of the Midwest, is thus a bit exhilarating. It's wide. You can see forever. It's disconcerting how far you can see in some places. There's no sense of protection from the rest of the world. The wind that blows across Indiana could have started in Colorado and just kept truckin'. There was no Great Lake to buffer it before reaching its destination. In the rest of the Midwest, borders seem arbitrary. You can drive in pretty much any direction and see the same thing. Places are not defined. Counties just bleed into other counties. One might say that everything between the Rockies and the Ohio River is just a bunch of counties. There might be one decent sized city every three or four counties. The rest is mainly agriculture. And, for the most part, there's not much that distinguishes the counties of Nebraska from the counties of Indiana.

It's just interesting. Michigan is defined, encircled, enclosed. The rest of our region is ephemeral, infinite, and open. It is big.

The photo above was taken on a hill on the outskirts of Bismarck, North Dakota in June 2008.

When Germans Come to Town

Well, distinguished readers, it has been awhile since I've written anything, so I want to update everyone as to the recent goings-on this side of the computer. I haven't blogged in a great long time because of a very happy set of circumstances caused chiefly by the visit to the US of my good friend Florian - of Weil am Rhein, Germany. You may recall some of my posts dealing with my grand tour of the Continent that transpired last May. Those wonderful travels grew out of my visit to him, for which I will ever be thankful. So, long story short, he has been staying in Grand Rapids with me and my family since June 10th and will depart for his home on July 5th.

In the time that he has been here, we have attempted to survey as much of the Midwest as possible, for he did not get much opportunity for travel while he was here on exchange (the genesis of our friendship was caused by him attending my high school my senior year). Chief among the places we sampled was the great city of Chicago. It is one of those cities that never really gets old - this, I believe, was my sixth (give or take) visit. Skyscrapers were gazed at, deep-dish pizza was ingested, and a grand time was had by all.

We shifted gears from the epitome of urban to the epitome of rural as we journeyed from Chicago to the humble town of Nappanee, Indiana (probably my sixth or seventh visit there as well). Several readers of this blog are residents of Nappanee and they were gracious hosts to the two of us. Seeing the Amish was a highlight for Florian and provided a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of the big city. On our return from Nappanee, we stopped off at the University of Notre Dame to enjoy the sights and atmosphere of that august institution.

Since then, we have stayed closer to home, with a weekend visit to the cottage (involving an entire cohort of the Schmalzel-Mitera clan, in addition to my lovely girlfriend), and a trip to Lake Michigan to enjoy the sun and sand. This past Tuesday, a party was held in Florian's honor which brought together many old friends from high school that I have not seen in some time. The jovial company lasted into the wee hours.

The greatest adventure, however, surely lies ahead. Tomorrow, at the shocking hour of 5am, we (my family, plus Florian, plus my sister's boyfriend) depart for a ten day escapade featuring such locations as Niagara Falls, Upstate New York, Boston, Acadia National Park, and the Province of Quebec. Several of the places on the itinerary will be new to all of us (Quebec City, Acadia, and Boston), while Upstate New York is an old family favorite and Montreal featured on my architecture field trip last October.

Keep us in your prayers for safe travels and the maintenance of everyone's sanity as we embark on what will surely be a memorable week. When I return, expect blogs on a number of things that have occurred recently (Pentecost, Corpus Christi) as well as my thoughts on issues as diverse as the Republican Presidential candidates to the necessity of streetcars in urban Grand Rapids. Until then, Arrivederci!