What's on my mind---

On the front of today's New York Times' Art Section there is a really exciting picture of a new residential tower in South Manhattan that is nearing completion. With 76 floors, it will be the tallest such tower in the city's history and I couldn't read about it without imagining what it would feel like to live there. It's a handsome building, designed by Frank Gehry, which the reviewer believes, is the finest building to go up in the city since Eero Saarinen's CBS building and Philip Johnson's AT&T (now Sony) buildings, 46 years ago. Its exterior which is clad in stainless steel bundles apartments so that every unit across each face has a corner and the whole building consists of 4 telescoping sections. The apartments, one of which is shown have banks of 8 foot windows which face in 2 directions and the Brooklyn Bridge looks like a tiny toy, far below. I can imagine myself (and Lorna) living there and gradually becoming indifferent to the scene as the novelty wears off and it becomes ours. As I write this, I can look to my left toward a vista that is adequate consolation for knowing that I will never be rich enough to inhabit Gehry's spires. From where I sit I can see the planes on the ground at Logan Airport. The City looks like a bar graph covering half of the horizon. To its left I can see unimpeded to the Blue Hills of Milton with their ski areas reflecting white. Nearby, the dwellings of Chelsea rise, like rows of seats at a stadium. I'm content.