69: longest and shortest day, ohiopyle, hideous and beautiful, fallingwater, move the desk, how to spell god, blue steel, the trees have eyes, burrantlers, leprous trees, pickelhaube

June 20, 2025

Ohiopyle to Connellsville

Today, the longest day of the year, will be the shortest ride of the year, only seventeen miles, because we have reservations to see Fallingwater this afternoon. You might not recognize it by name, but you've seen the iconic pictures of this house which is a mere 3.5 miles off the GAP. In 1991, Time magazine called it "the greatest house of the 20th century."

Ohiopyle is a quaint, picturesque town, with a good number of cozy places to assist you in lightening the heavy burden of all that money in your wallet. Hikers, bikers, motorcyclists, RVers, canoers, and kayakers all converge here. Consequently, the streets are lined with gift shops, coffee shops, and restaurants. Accommodations are expensive.

We ate breakfast at one of the coffee shops, then went for a walk to explore the town. Ohiopyle is so small that if you walk its entire circumference you can actually see your own back as you go.

It became very popular when the Ohiopyle State Park opened in 1968, and is particularly famous for its whitewater rapids.

A marshmallowy treat after my breakfast.... you know, just to make sure I don't bonk again today. You can never be too careful, even if we're only going 17 miles.

Now they're using marijuana to catch fish? Or maybe just trying to catch stonefish.

I'm posting too many pictures of this guy because he's so fascinatingly weird.

He even has henna tattoos, and the tusks look like fiber optic cable.

The wings look like wax paper, and so delicate that it seems they would just break off with any attempt to fly. How can something be so hideous and beautiful at the same time?

Although, I suppose if there's any intelligent life Out There, they're probably wondering the same thing about us.

Check out time was 11:00 so we rode over to the shuttle company, Wilderness Voyagers, where, for $60.00, they'll store your bike and bags and drive you over to Fallingwater and back.

The "secure storage" ended up being on the floor in front of, and slightly to the right of, the till. The store is Grand Central for purchasing sunscreen, clothing, sandals, and is the launching pad for the kayakers and canoers, so there were a lot of people coming and going. In spite of reassurances, I didn't feel comfortable leaving my gear there, and after my small protest the woman at the counter did agree to put my stuff behind the counter until I returned.

We chatted with our driver, Colby from West Virginia, who happens to be partnered with the woman at the cash register. From him, we learned that no one is kayaking right now because the height of the falls is five times over the legal limit. Of course, people still do it, but it's not sanctioned by the State Park. Colby himself has dropped off a 38-foot waterfall, his personal record, and said the record drop is 189 feet.

I did some additional reading later and learned that it was done in 2009, sparking controversy because of the extreme danger, as well as the risk of glorifying highly hazardous stunts. I was glad to see that most elite kayakers have turned away from pushing the limits of waterfall height because of safety concerns.

Heather and I went to our first Frank Lloyd Wright house in Independence, Iowa, and were really captivated by it. Since then, we've seen 24 of his designs, including Taliesin and Taliesin West. Each one is a marvel.

Maybe this will jog your memory about Fallingwater. As you can see, they were doing some preservation work so we weren't able to go to the 3rd floor, and we weren't allowed to take pictures in the smaller rooms.

All of the rock is Pottsville sandstone, and was quarried 500 feet from the house.

Also the living room. The giant red ball on the right can be filled with stew or some other food, and swings over into the fireplace.

Wright always designed furniture to match the design of the house, and it was always notoriously uncomfortable, to the point where some clients went against his wishes and brought in something else.

He was the first architect to use mitered glass corners on windows (glass-to-glass junctions without a supporting mullion or frame), and Fallingwater was the first place he used them. He said it emphasizes transparency, connects with nature, and "breaks the box."

My favorite Tiffany lamp (not designed by Wright).

This spring-fed pool is by the servants' quarters (now used for administration).

This covers the walkway from the house to the servants' quarters. Wright insisted that it be one continuous form when it was poured, instead of several separate ones.

For a number of reasons, Wright always used flat roofs, and was well known for having them leak. He often dismissed the leaks as "inconveniences subordinate to aesthetic integrity." One anecdotal story is actually about the owner of Fallingwater, Edgar Kaufmann. He called Wright to complain that water was dripping on him while he sat inside at his desk. Wright simply replied, "Why don't you move your desk?" Another story (different client) goes that upon being called to see a leaking house during a rainstorm, he instead waited until it had stopped, responding, "I can’t fix it while it’s raining, and I don't need to fix it when it’s dry."

Kaufmann and Wright had a disagreement over how large this desk should be. Wright wanted it short for the aesthetics and openness, and Kaufmann wanted it to be larger because of practicality - he wanted the desk space. The cut out section wasn't a compromise, it's how Kaufmann found it when returned to see the finished room. With his classic bluntness, he was told "You can’t block the window. The window is more important than your desk.”

Here are some of my favorite Wright quotes:
“Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance.”
“Television is chewing gum for the eyes.”
"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."
"You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site."
And, unrelated to architecture:
“A man is a fool if he drinks before he reaches the age of 50, and a fool if he doesn’t afterward.”