09:21 – The first thing many first-time visitors to downtown Winston-Salem notice is usually the old RJ Reynolds Building, which most of them probably assume is a small copy of the Empire State Building. In fact, the converse is true. The Empire State Building is a large copy of the RJ Reynolds Building, which was just added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The confusion is understandable, because the two buildings look identical except for size. In fact, many Winston-Salem residents call our building the Empire State Building. I wonder how many New Yorkers call their building the RJ Reynolds Building.
Barbara is due back late afternoon today. I still have lots of clean-up to do, so I’d better get started.
13:23 – Late afternoon indeed. Barbara called a little while ago from Statesville, about 30 miles down the road, to say they had just finished lunch and were on their way home. Colin and I are frantically cleaning and decluttering. I just finished cleaning the toilets, and Colin is in the hall bathroom licking the floor because I didn’t have time to mop it.