Design Review Committee disapproves replacement "Sign"
The Terminal: Ten Years Later
The only good thing you can say about all the rain we’ve been having is that at least it’s not snow. (We wouldn’t thaw out ’til June!) It has not been pleasant waking up every morning to another gloomy, moist day. Thanks to the rain invading every square inch of Birmingham, my husband and I have had a constant trail of teeny ants in the house, mailbox and both our cars searching for someplace to dry off. We’ve even been visited TWICE now by a 6 inch lizard who must be sneaking in under the doorframe looking for a warm hideyhole.
I feel for these little critters, even as I dislike their presence. I’m beginning to need a place to dry off too, at least mentally. I need a place to hide out on these gloomy weekend days, where I can feel protected against the elements. Quiet is a bonus, and while being free isn’t a prerequisite, it certainly is nice. I think I’ve finally found a place that fits all my requirements: the reading room at the Emmet O’Neal Public Library in Mountain Brook.
For no cost at all, I can snuggle into a chair with any book or magazine that takes my fancy, and bask in the light coming in from the huge, vaguely Art Deco windows. (Naturally, it’s way nicer when that’s afternoon sunlight streaming in instead of lead-colored clouds, but these days I’ll take what I can get.)
The key, I’ve found, is to pick sunny reading material. So far, I’ve enjoyed a P.G. Wodehouse comedy, a gorgeously photographed book on Middle Eastern cooking, and a handful of guidebooks to Italy. Even if it doesn’t stop the rain, at least it banishes it to a distant memory for a while, and reminds me there are sunnier days ahead.
Photo: Emmet O’Neal Library. Courtesy of their website.
” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio) and whatever lucky nearest and dearest you like. Stop at a coffee shop long enough to gear everyone up with enough yuletide treats and caffeine to last them the evening. Then begin driving through neighborhoods looking at light displays until you’ve crowned:
André spilled the beans a few weeks ago about the reason for my protracted absence-wedding planning. I had assumed “a simple, no frills wedding” couldn’t possibly take more than a few weeks to put together. Life, and the Birmingham wedding industry, however had other agendas. Despite my best efforts not to let the process turn me into a harpy, there were a few months in there where silly questions like buttercreme vs. white frosting were far more present in my daily thought process than they really needed to be.
In the 1920s and ‘30s, if you wanted your building to have a cool, modern look, you built it in the Art Deco style—all sleek lines, bold forms, and geometric shapes, reflecting the rise of technology. Hot spots for this style included New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, but Birmingham wasn’t left behind.
