Wednesday, January 7

Again, we had trouble falling asleep last night, so we were tired when we got up at 6 a.m. to get ready by 8 a.m. for a trip to the capitol city.

It was sunny and warmer when we got on the road this morning, a very nice day for an outing. We listened to an audio book on CDs as we traveled, and arrived in the capitol city just before 10 a.m., about fifteen minutes before the art museum opened.

We were mainly interested in visiting the Andy Warhol exhibit, which was excellent. Included in the exhibit were works that most folks are familiar with, like six silkscreen prints of Marilyn Monroe, and six silkscreen prints of Campbell's Soup cans.

Other works include a wallpaper design of repetitive life-size pink cow heads on a yellow background, and eight silkscreen prints of camouflage designs in brilliant colors. One of our favorite displays was called "Silver Clouds"...a small, white, room that held about fifteen two-foot by three-foot helium filled metalized (silver) plastic film pillows that floated around the room in a gentle "breeze." We entered the room and let the "clouds" float around us and bounce off our heads and shoulders. This display is bound to bring out the happy, carefree child in anyone who experiences it.

We also visited an exhibit by a ceramic artist, though we didn't spend much time in that area. Mother and I were most impressed by the intricately designed jewelry.

It was noon by this time, so we went to the museum's restaurant and had Chicken Salad Kaiser sandwiches (white meat with grapes, almonds, lettuce and Roma tomatoes), and creamy chicken soup, plus a cup of fresh fruits. The appetizer was a chunk of poppy seed bread for dipping in an herbed olive oil.

From the museum, we went to a popular discount coat and clothing store. I have been searching for a new brown pea coat to replace my old one that is now too large, and luckily I found just the right one...a wool Calvin Klein in my size at less than half the original price, so I snapped it up. In fact, it was the ONLY brown one on the rack in my size, so I was thrilled to find it.

Then we went to the mall, so I could spend a $10 birthday coupon at an intimate apparel shop. I bought six tubes of hand cream at their semi-annual sale price.

Our last stop was the warehouse club store to pick up fresh fruits and other grocery essentials. We were on the road back home by 2:30 p.m., before the after-work traffic began. Even at this early afternoon hour, a three-quarter, translucent, tissue-paper moon was visible against a cloudless blue sky.

We arrived back home around 4:30 and later had a supper of potato soup, before relaxing in front of TV for the evening. Tonight we watched part one of "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," based on an 1891 novel of seduction and love by Thomas Hardy. We're looking forward to seeing the second part of this public television offering that centers on a poor and pure young peasant woman who falls prey to a man who masquerades as her aristocratic cousin.