Needles, Spheres, and Irony

Last week, my husband, my cat and I made our summer sojourn to Seattle. On the airplane's final descent, we were able to see the Space Needle just below our glide path. The weather has been clear and fine since we arrived. From our neighborhood to the north of Seattle, I’ve occasionally spotted the top of the needle hovering like a space ship above Queen Anne Hill.



In Knoxville, where we live during the school year, the Sun Sphere casts a shadow on the balcony of our condo unit. Almost every morning, I drink coffee as I welcome the sunrise glinting off that golden globe.


The remnants of world’s fairs mark the skylines of both of my hometowns. The 1962 fair brought the Space Needle and 2.3 million visitors to Seattle. The 1982 fair brought the Sun Sphere and 11 million visitors to Knoxville. What an irony that the Knoxville fair was so much bigger than the one in Seattle!

Today the Space Needle is a more widely recognized and the city of Seattle has a bigger footprint and a grander reputation. But the “scruffy city” of Knoxville has begun to reclaim its iconic status as host – if not to the world, at least to some very good friends of mine. I recently used the sphere as the starting point for a walking tour of town for a friend who is thinking of retiring to Knoxville. And a wonderful group of friends just posted pictures from a birthday party inside the sphere. A party that I missed because I had transition to my other "fair" city.