Falling Water

Well, just over an hour ago the other Humphrey fellows and I returned from our weekend outing to Connellsville and Mill Run in Pennsylvania. This was my first trip into "the sticks" (or a countryside area) in the US.

Aside from our drivers habitually getting us lost, it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. There was the promise of white-water rafting, but I'm rather glad that it ended up being a more gentler one and a half hour canoeing experience on the Youghiogheny River. The raft I assisted in steering was first to shore. However another group of fellows was not so lucky, getting carried away by the current and needing some rapid rescue to avoid going over the edge of a waterfall further downstream (no pictures I'm afraid)!

Friday evening ended with a rather raucous supper at the best (only?) restaurant in the area, called River's Edge. The adrenaline rush combined with good food and a healthy supply of alcohol made for rather irreverent proceedings. It also convinced me of the quality of South Western Australian wine. I had an absolutely delicious Shiraz to go with my steak.

After supper some of the men fellows decided to extend the evening and dabble in some poker. Thankfully we played only for plastic chips, because I lost everything in the end.

The highlight of the weekend, however, was our Saturday morning visit to Falling Water in Mill Run, PA. Falling Water is a house built in the mid-1930s by the brilliant American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the affluent Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh, PA. My experience of the house is still sinking in, but I can attest to its quite magnificent integration of nature and construction. In architectural communities, I understand, this is held up as possibly the most stunningly designed (once) private home in the world.

And with that, I am going to sign off. I've certainly had a most satisfying weekend so far.

Tomorrow night I'm going to see Mos Def and his live band perform at the Kennedy Center in D.C. I realise that Mos Def has spent more time honing his skills in front of the camera rather than his microphone techniques, but I'm holding out hope that there I'll catch some glimpses of the MC who released hardcore B-Boy anthems in the late 90s.