Easter Birthday Weekend

I don't know where to start.  "At the beginning," most of my friends would say.

I received a call early this morning and.............................I got the job!  

I start on Wednesday and I will be at the top of the stated salary range (woo!).  I must have done a good job on those tests, eh?  Expectations may be high.

I can't believe I have a job, actually.  I feel as though I've been looking for the One for most of my adult life.

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My friend Claire, a former colleague at the dental office in NYC, came down for Easter weekend.

She arrived late on Thursday night and on Friday we went downtown to see the few remaining cherry blossoms, and when I say few I mean next to none.  Remember the blossoms I captured a couple of weeks ago at the Smithsonian Castle gardens?  They are all gone now!  Even the weeping cherry tree is becoming bereft of blossoms.  And everywhere the blossoms had been there are now budding leaves.

After that, we visited the Freer Gallery next door.  It's a little gem of a place, filled with all sorts of Asian art and antiquities.  Well, not filled so much as tastefully arranged.

Bodhisattvas

Kongorikishi warrior (Japan, 12th-14th century)

A calligraphy hanging with vase, and a Japanese lacquer box with inkstone

Having rabbit radar, I spotted this before entering the room



Singh?





James McNeill Whistler

Whistler's Peacock Room - Fighting Peacocks, and the Princess of the Land of Porcelain

Delicate Egyptian relief

One of my aunts looks like this!

Loggia at the Freer Gallery

Top:  Labor supported by Science and Art

Bottom:  Law supported by Power and Love

Why?  I think that Labor requires science in its conception and art in its execution.  Law needs power in order to be carried out but love to prevent it from becoming oppressive.

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After the Freer we wandered over to the Smithsonian Castle which is also the SI Visitor's Center.

Despite never having stepped foot in America, James Smithson is interred here.  Why he bequeathed his fortune to the people of America for the advancement of knowledge, we may never know.  There is no way in the early 19th century he could foresee that this nascent nation would become a world power and thereby enable a spread of knowledge worldwide.  Think of all the advancements that have come out of the US in the 20th century alone.

A pier table and mirror in the hall where there is an exhibition of about 6 proposals for the new Museum of African American History, including one from Norman Foster



The Great Hall was lined with exquisite glass cases containing iconic American artifacts, from nature to technology

The Washington Monument

A little something for Flighty

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We tried to visit the Sculpture Gardens across the Mall but it was just closing for the evening, so we walked a few blocks to Chinatown

The Chinatown Gate.  Claire noted that, although NYC's Chinatown is much larger, it has no gate

On the way to the restaurant, we stopped in at the Teaism shop next to the teahouse, where the walls were lined with fabric tea boxes, teapots, and teacups

Stained glass at Rosa Mexicano, where we enjoyed a dinner of delights:

1) the best guacamole ever, prepared at the table

2) spicy chicken flautas and crab cakes with mango salsa

3) mini personal pitchers of Sangria

4) 3 types of sorbet, and a tres leches cake covered with soft meringue and topped with a birthday candle!

I was still full more than 3 hours later...

My next post will cover the subtle delights of Saturday, so stay tuned.