Scraping the sky.

When 911 hit, living in a large city appeared to be a real drawback in comparison with living in a small town. On that day I was in Chicago, of course glued to the TV, but I had one small problem, I didn’t have any money with me. Or at least enough to pay for my parking. So, I walked over to an ATM and suddenly realized that to my left, not more than 3 blocks away, stood the World’s tallest building. I had one eye on the tall building I was entering, and another eye on the one I feared could be attacked.

As far as comfort levels, this was not one of my favorite moments.

Move ahead nearly 10 years and the Sears Tower is now the Willis Tower---we still don’t know who Willis is---and this past year they opened what has to be one of the most frightening and intimidating “thrills” I have ever heard of…not that I am planning to know about soon that is. It’s known as the “Ledge”; essentially it’s a glass block that was added to one of the top floors of the Tower and you can step out and experience the full 360---or more likely 270 since it is attached to the building. Up, down, and all around, nothing but glass. For those of you who have a fear of heights, you can stop perspiring; you don’t have to go up there.

I have always been kind of amazed by tall structures; when the Gateway Arch was being built, they actually had a large net across both sides to make sure no one fell to their death. For the individual who did fall into the net, it did happen as I remember, I am sure they were very thankful for this bit of forethought.

There have also been men, and few women, who I know have tried to do crazy feats. We had Spiderman here in Chicago who climbed the side of the Sears Tower (he was arrested of course), in New York acrobats walked in between the World Trade Center (prior to its opening) on a tight rope, and of course we all know about King Kong climbing to the top of the Empire State Building and fending off airplanes. What were they all thinking?

One of the interesting things I have learned about tall buildings is how their elevator systems work. When you step into some of the taller buildings in Chicago, you will see on the screen---“serving other elevator bank.” I once asked what that meant? I was told, directly above me was another car---it would stop on the floor above us. So essentially we had two elevators stacked on top of one another. Oh the wonders of mankind…who ever thought of that?

The photo above is of the Empire State Building, now the tallest building in New York. What is interesting about the building, in addition to being built in 13 months, is how for its time, it truly “scraped the sky” as they say. Still one of the most beautiful buildings in New York, it comes as no surprise it has been in more movies, more photos, and named appropriately after the states nickname---it reflects the role of the original “Empire” New York has been for our country.

Thanks for stopping by.