Elanso

Charlie and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday. We had a fabulous time, and that includes the anxious moments, which were expected. It was a brand new experience for Charlie—-the first time he has gone to an art museum and to one that is not a designated children’s museum—and, of course, Jim was still out of town. There was some hollering and the usual looks: We just kept moving on.

(And later, as we waited on the platform for the PATH train near where the WTC once stood, I noted that Charlie’s fingers were red and that he was bending over to pick up a tiny white object: He had just lost a tooth and that must have been bothering him all day.)

We got into New York City and walked east to catch the #6 subway (another new thing) and then got off at 77th street (a dog got on). Then to the Met, where I haven’t been in years: We did a rather fast tour of the galleries of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern art, with me pointing out some of the myths, noting that an ancient Greek cuirass looked like it might fit Charlie, and dragging Charlie over to admire the restored interior of a rich Roman’s house. We rode the elevator a few times after Charlie found it and lingered in a gallery of Rodins (Orpheus and Eurydice……Cupid and Psyche) and walked through an exhibit of Jasper Johns. Yes, it was more of a walk-through than a leisurely gallery tour, but Charlie stopped when I called him so I could examine a painting, and he probably would have walked through a few more galleries but I thought it enough for a first visit.

Because I think we’ll be going back.

We took our time walking through Central Park south and saw a bit of the zoo. There were families and babes in strollers aplenty, and lines of police cars due to the Pope’s visit. Charlie took my hand and I followed his lead, and he seemed to know where he needed to go, south and west: We were soon approaching 7th avenue and Columbus Circle, not far from Jim’s office at Fordham University.

Charlie and I had an early dinner, caught the subway to Chambers Street and (following Jim’s effective although imprecise instructions to “walk down towards the construction with the Empire State building behind you”—-delivered to me via cell phone while Jim stopped in Kokomo, Indiana, at a Steak and Shake) took the PATH train back to Jersey City, and walked back down Kennedy Boulevard to the black car. At home, Charlie found two old DVDs—of Sesame Street and of Goodnight Moon—that are partially filmed in places we had just been, in Central Park and on New York streets.

I think he enjoyed our afternoon together in the city. I can’t say how much I did.

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