Wade Lagoon in Pictures

Ok, I promise I'm not going to make a habit out of this but what can I say, I'm a sucker for water, fall colors, reflections, and geese and this is a time for all of them.

Sunday, after visiting Treasures of Heaven at the Cleveland Museum of Art and before I started the walk home I figured I'd do a lap around Wade Lagoon (in contrast to the ruggedly natural feeling of Shaker Lakes, Wade Lagoon has a decidedly manicured and hand-crafted feel to it) -- I saw one of the marble benches and decided to sit down. Within moments, I had a few geese visiting with me...and I snapped a few pictures on this beautiful fall day.

All of the photos that made the cut can be found on my Flickr Photostream but my favorites are here as well (and this time you can most certainly click for a larger version...for full 3264x2448 resolution just to email me) ...

Peace, Love, and Happiness

This was actually the first scene that caught my eye: The Museum's Chalkfest was a few weeks and a few heavy rains ago, but these three symbols endure. Later contemplation: Is this a Catch 22? Can you have one without the other two?

Be at Peace With The Moment

Within moments of sitting down on a bench I had three geese come to visit -- they didn't seem to mind me at all. More photos are in the photostream, but I love this one: The reflection of clouds on water; A grounded bird in such proximity to both the sky and the water...and the fact that he was no more than two feet away from me.

Scale


I wasn't sure if this would work but I think having the lamp post in the frame gives a much better sense of the scale of both the lagoon and the Museum's 1916 building... plus it hides a crane the museum is using during construction.

Grand Dame of Euclid Avenue

There's nothing terribly remarkable about this shot of Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra -- but as anyone who's been tortured by one of my driving tours of Cleveland knows, this is, architecturally, my favorite building in Cleveland. I couldn't walk by on such a nice day and not take a picture. Plus the fall colors beautifully frame the hall.

Urban History

I love poking my head around corners, above ceilings, looking behind shelves and under rugs for signs of companies, people, and things long past and giving a sense of the true history of a place and the people who have come before. I think this stems from growing up in a city where anything older than 1989 is deemed worthy of historic preservation, but whatever the source...This manhole cover on Euclid Heights Boulevard carries the name of the Cuyahoga Telephone Company.

"The who?" you might ask. I certainly did. Referring to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, the Cuyahoga Telephone Company name came into use in 1898 and merged with another firm in 1914 making this manhole cover somewhere between 97 and 113 years old... Think of all the the men, women, cars, winters, and ideas that have passed over it during that time. Company names as well: Ohio Bell, AT&T, Ameritech, SBC, AT&T, to name just a few. And I hope I look that good when I'm pushing 100 years.

Incidentally, Jeptha Wade was one of the founders of the Western Union Telegraph Company. You know how this story started at Wade Lagoon? Yep. Same person. The land upon which the museum and lagoon now sits was donated to the City of Cleveland by Mr. Wade in 1881.

Lincoln