Undulations: The Dana-Thomas House and Pizza Kids

I drove two hours with my ex to see a Frank Lloyd Wright home.

The Dana-Thomas house sits outside downtown Springfield, Illinois, almost an anachronism yet seeming to fit perfectly among the Victorian and mid-century modern homes and offices that surround it. Long, low, and striking the home would be intense were it not so seemingly effortless. It is constantly at odds with itself, at once heavy yet dynamic, intimate and open, secure while free. Its façade draws the eye while the privacy walls hide its secrets. It is as though the architecture is a living thing with its own moods and idiosyncrasies.

We came to the house on my whim as is often the case. I am a man driven by whims. I have also described myself as a man with no strong feelings.

Unemotive, some say. Yet as I began to finally learn about Frank Lloyd Wright and his work, it stirred in me feelings I had thought lost. I was excited and fascinated in ways that I haven’t been for surely more than a decade. And so we came to Springfield so that I may experience the splendor of this man’s work in person, because surely that would be the key to some kind of pivotal moment in my ongoing…