Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Multifarious distractions

I should be working right now (modernizing the style of a philosophy book translated into overly formal English from German many years ago -- I just can't get excited about it right now!) but instead I'm gazing out the window at some amazingly tall wildflowers waving about in today's rainstorm.

Ooop, yes, that's got me out of my seat and searching for my wildflower book ... very tall upright plant, bright yellow flowers, petals arching back ... crosscheck with Google images ... YES! We have identified it: Rudbeckia laciniata, the green-headed coneflower.

The kids are at Camp Enchantment, hubby is puttering around in the kitchen making homemade bread and soup (bless him!) and I'm seriously considering turning off the computer and lounging on the bed with a cat and a book.

It's that kind of day.

I'll end with some photos from last weekend's trip to the Met Museum.

Here's SillyBilly excitedly telling us something we didn't know about the Neo-Assyrian Nimrud reliefs. Note: he picked out that outfit, I wash my hands of it!

A detail of E. A. Abbey's King Lear: Act 1, Scene 1, which completely shocked me as I rounded a corner in the American Wing. This is a massive painting [54.25 x 127.25 in. (137.8 x 323.2 cm)], and was created during the late 1890's, one of my favorite art periods. The full painting can be seen here.



And this room in the American Wing, which despite its Victorian fussiness felt oddly homey and comfortable to me. Maybe it was the absolute lack of toys, cat hair, and dirty dishes?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the outfit -- I can relate. I hope you did take advantage of that moment to lounge in bed.

Unknown said...

thanks for the comment heads up.

the museum trip looks fabulous. i'm so excited for the baby to be a little older. she's almost there, i think.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, dry and fusty philosophy tome on one hand and the choice of wildflowers in the garden or bed and book? I know which decision I'd be taking.

I hope the book was good (and that the cat behaved).

Henitsirk said...

Susie, Kerryn: I did enjoy the book. I finished up The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit. That was perfect thoughless reading.

Mary: start now! Just don't think you can spend hours in a museum with a little one. We learned that one the hard way. Plan on about an hour of looking at things, and then find somewhere to run around.