Monday Morning Musings
“A day spent with you is my favourite day. So today is my new favourite day.”
—Winnie the Pooh
Part I
It was not a day of romance and roses—
And we missed the parade of
Tall ships
With Mama Duck–
Who sprang a leak.
I later discovered.
But we saw great art,
And we talked and walked.
And glimpsed a different view
Of the city.
First,
In the morning
“Discovering the Impressionists”
At the Museum of Art.
So strange that Degas’s little dancer
And the rest
Were considered shocking.
Collected by Paul Durand-Ruel
A conservative Catholic father of five—
Who embraced the art of those who became known as
The Impressionists.
The critics scorned and ridiculed their work.
I guess he had the last laugh.
A visionary in a time of rapid change,
Inventions like steam engines and railroads–
Changes occurring as quickly and regularly
As Monet’s Poplars changed their color and shape,
Through the seasons.
Transnational and transatlantic collaborations
French artists meeting in London,
American artist Mary Cassatt–
A conduit between the European art world
And the newly rich American millionaires
Who wanted fine art to grace the
Walls of their
New mansions.
Industry and art,
Dancing together like
Renoir’s couples,
Twirling and swaying,
The city couple and the country couple
Both enjoying that moment in time.
And we enjoyed the sight
Of them,
Arms entwined
We see their smiles
And hear the rhythm of the music
As they glide.
Over one hundred years later.
They still live.
Part 2
Up to the medieval galleries.
We looked at the swords
And the mounted knight
In the center of the room
On his armored horse.
Leonard the guard
Spoke to us
With great enthusiasm—
if not total historical accuracy–
Throwing himself to the ground
To demonstrate a knight
Thrown off his horse.
And then following us
To the next room.
To provide a
Somewhat fanciful account
Of how knights cooked their food.
But again,
With great eagerness.
There’s a man who loves his job.
Part 3
We walked to Fairmount
Near the Penitentiary
That looms over the area
A testament to an earlier time
And the zeal to reform
Sometimes harshly.
“Let them think about their crimes,”
The reformers said.
And built the Penitentiary
With single cells
And no talking allowed.
The ghosts linger there,
But not for us today.
Instead
We ate sandwiches
At Ry Bread.
We sat outside in the small back patio.
Opposite each other at the little table,
Opposite tastes, too.
His New York, a corned beef Panini,
Me with the Hollywood,
Whole wheat bread with hummus and vegetables,
I added avocado and cheese,
Because seriously,
Why wouldn’t you?
Then a stroll to the Rodin Museum—
We think with the thinker,
We empathize with Eve,
We’re giddy with Eternal Spring,
And move with The Three Shades.
Then another walk to the Mutter Museum—
A bit farther than we thought,
But well worth it because
Nothing says happy anniversary
Like seeing a giant colon, right?
And who doesn’t want to be disturbingly informed?
Part 4
Dinner at Tria,
The rain mostly holding off
Till the end of our meal.
My husband moves his chair closer
To get under the umbrella
But we stay dry,
Well, almost,
Although the menu on its clipboard
Is soaked.
The sky is violet gray
And the air misty
Like an Impressionist painting,
The city swirls about us—
The Impressionists saw
Railroads,
But didn’t have to worry
About cars driving
past sidewalk cafes,
Horns honking,
People walking,
Life going past.
Sometimes too quickly.
But the wine was good,
And the cheese even better.
Part 5
We went to a show next.
It was not Shakespeare,
Or Stoppard.
It was ridiculous fun.
Sometimes just what you need.
Murder for Two—
Two actors
Thirteen roles,
And the piano,
That both play—
Sometimes together.
Ballet moves
And silly step dancing,
The actors make it look
So effortless.
They seem to enjoy their work
As much as Leonard does his,
But they’re actors,
So who knows?
And then we go home
To feed the cats
“Where were you
At dinnertime?”
They say.
And we sleep
After our long day of walking.
Impressions of the city
Impressions of Impressionists,
Of life,
Of love,
Fill my dreams.
But thankfully
There are no giant colons
Or surgical instruments
To mar my slumber.
The next day we find that
All across America
It is no longer straight marriage or gay marriage
It is simply marriage,
And other couples will now get to celebrate 37 years together
As we have.
Embed from Getty ImagesHere are links to the places we visited:
We didn’t go to Eastern State Penitentiary, but we’ve been there a few times. It’s a very cool place to visit.
Cheers to the wonderful time you had this past weekend. A question … was it your anniversary weekend?
Our anniversary was last week–we did these things on the actual day! 🙂
A toast to the happy couple!
Thank you! 🙂
PS: I visited the prison link … awesome!!!
It is such a cool place to visit. In the fall they do a night time Halloween thing. I’ve never gone because the place is creepy enough in the daylight. They also do a Bastille Day event and “Marie Antoinette” throw Tastykakes from the top. I think I wrote about that last summer.
Your interactive tour was both a review and new – thank you! We have several Rodin figures framed in a print above our bed. They have been dancing for years and years.
Happy, happy anniversary and many more!
Oops, I meant DEGAS!
Thanks so much, Marian! I love that image of the dancers over your bed!
I raise a virtual glass to you both Merril. Happy Anniversary. It sounds like a mammoth trek that day but with some astounding destinations.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
It was a fun day, David. Thanks so much.
Hugs back to you!
Congrats! 😘😘😘😘😘😘
Thanks so much, Natascha!
The photos really are great!
Thanks. I know I don’t take great photos, but they give you an idea. 😉
Ya gotta love it. Absolutely love it! 🙂
Thanks, Laurie! 🙂
The photos are fantastic, and the quote from our Pooh friend completely unexpected! 😀
Thanks so much! 🙂
Happy Anniversary. It sounds – and looks – like you had a marvelous time. I love Impressionists’ art. Pooh’s quote is perfect. 😉
Thanks, Judy. It was a fun day!
Happy Anniversary to you! Ours was 4th of July.
Fancy taking up the challenge?
https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/3-days-3-quotes-day-3/
Happy Anniversary, Jane! Our younger daughter was just married yesterday (the 4th of July)! It’s been a crazy few days, as you can imagine, and I have page proofs due. Let me see if I can start later in the week.
You’ll certainly remember 2015!
I certainly will! 🙂
Happy Anniversary! It sounds like you had an amazing time (except for the giant colon). 🙂 You always find the most interesting places to visit.
It’s actually a really cool museum. 🙂