There will be much persiflage and little hard thought today, as the Albatross needs some preening, as well as spell-checking. This quote from Winston Churchill (who wrote far more easily than I did—in fact, he often dictated his books to secretaries) perfectly summarizes the experience:
“Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.”
The monster is about to be slain. Sadly, I’ve never gotten to the “toy and amusement” stage. . .
But I digress. I wish I had taken this picture, but it comes from imgur, kindly forwarded by reader John. I’ve flown over downtown Chicago many times (that’s the way you approach O’Hare airport from the east), but I’ve never seen anything like this:
All we need now is someone punting a boat across the clouds …..
It’s not a pole, you can see it thickening towards the bottom..
On closer inspection I bow to your better eyesight!
( For anyone who is wondering WTF we are talking about, the allusion is to the cover art of the new Pink Floyd album …
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-endless-river-pink-floyd-unveil-cover-art-for-their-first-new-album-in-20-years-9749012.html )
Thanks for the Churchill quote – I’m struggling to finish a long-overdue book and that sums up my history with it nicely :-/
Now, spot the nightjar!
I do enjoy a jar at night… 🙂
I have been transcribing the unpublished memoirs of a CoE vicar in an unofficial work-related capacity (don’t fear – I have not got goddy – he was a vicar at a church for the deaf in London) though that is not the same, being someone else’s work! Still as it covers 1870s to circa 1910 it has some interesting bits, particularly a few strange Dickensian characters…
I remember flying into O’Hare airport when the only things visible from downtown Chicago were the Sears Tower, the Hancock building and the Amoco building (and,yes, I may be dating myself with those building names).
…or a broken jetty in a roiling sea.
Lovely picture of the city in the clouds!
Reminds me of flying into O’Hare long ago. On the broad flat prairie the city stood up like a spot of mold on a piece of bread.
I chuckled at the thought.
Reblogged this on Norbert Haupt and commented:
I have flown in and out of Chicago hundreds of time, but was never lucky enough to see it like this.
“The fog creeps in on little cat feet” around “the city of big shoulders.”