Happy Independence Day to all of you!
I thought today it would be fun to give you a little insight to what some of our staff will be doing to celebrate the great US holiday this weekend. Take a look! We hope each of you are celebrating in your own way and enjoy a fantastic holiday weekend! Also, thank you to all of those who serve our country now and in the past. Without your strength and dedication, we would not be able to celebrate this year!
Music, boating, water skiing, eating, several adult beverages, and of course fireworks on Lake Kiowa......
Selina Hinojosa-Lin, AIA LEED AP
Believe it or not, I always end up celebrating the Fourth at our office!
In the morning, Paul Ross and I meet here to watch the annual Peachtree Road Race – about 100,000 people gather together for a six-mile run down Peachtree Street and we’re part of the cheering, dancing crowd on the sidewalk. Our office building sits right on the path of the race.
Later that night, it’s back to the office to watch the fireworks. Jerry, his wife Cynthia, and I go up to the top level of the parking garage where there’s a perfect view of the Buckhead skyline and the Lenox Square fireworks. It’s a perfect little spot – away from most of the crowds but with just enough other people there to feel the camaraderie that the Fourth commemorates. I also have photos of this from last year – they’re on my home computer but I’ll send some along if you can use them.
K. Ashley Roberts, LEED AP
Lots of family time! My husband, my daughter, my 2 sons and I will form a team and participate in a family dodge ball competition! It should be “interesting” since neither my husband nor I have played dodge ball since elementary school. But…I play to win! Lol!
Cynthia A. Greene
My plans for the 4th of July are to float in my pool and enjoy time with my daughter.
Gretta R. Broad
My wife Cynthia and I are celebrating Independence Day by taking a long, five-day weekend to celebrate our independence: from work; from scheduled activities; from any other responsibilities that beg our attention on a day-to-day basis. In short – nothing.
Jerome W. Hovorka, AIA, LEED AP
Floating on the Buffalo River in Arkansas and exploring caverns and trails nearby. There may also be some adult beverages and fireworks involved…
Rachel M. Bundy
Several years ago I helped the in-laws with some free architecture at their lakehouse on Cedar Creek Lake (1 hr SE of Dallas). They have owned this property for over 30 years… on the side of a hill overlooking the lake. Hills, overlooking a lake may sound like a good idea, but not in this area of Texas with our highly expansive clay soils. They called this house the “wacky shack” as it had shifted and moved over the years. It had door frames that looked more like parallelograms, with the doors long-since removed from the hinges since they would not close. Floors that buckled and creaked and walls that had cracks large enough for some local critters to take up residency. I talked them into hiring a geotech report from PSI and a structural engineer (PPO) to design a system to stabilize the foundation as we gutted the existing single level structure and reframed a total of three floors (capped with a dramatic roof line).
So, that’s where my wife and I, and our two boys, spend a lot of our summer weekends and that is where we will be over the July 4th weekend… with my wife’s parents, her sister and husband and their two girls. So the in-laws now have a place big enough for all of us - with 5 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms and two large living areas. The kids have a game room in the lowest level with a pool table, air hockey, and foosball. The adults have their own space for watching movies and playing cards in the evenings. We spend our daylight hours skiing, wake boarding, sailing, fishing and jet skiing. For the 4th … the adults and kids will sit on the deck above the boat dock to watch the fireworks display, as yours truly will once again achieve a profound state of insobriety… down on the lawn… in the smoke and the haze and the sparks and the explosions… OH, IT WILL BE GLORIOUS! Yet fleeting… and I will have to clean it all up the next morning.
Gary Pitts, AIA
