The conference has not even officially begun, but I am revved up and in love with this city where I held up a map in confusion and a nice fellow in a suit put his arm avuncularly around me and guided me 180 degrees in the other direction (ahem, where I needed to go, which was the Postal Museum).
I'm usually a bit of a light-weight when it comes to museums, but not today. Spurred on by the drizzle that turned to bright sun and a breeze that was whipping Old Glory into a tizzy outside our Nation's Capitol, I hit four + the Botanic Garden.
Yes, yes, I am ready to kick off the Nike's and put my feet up, but not before I share a few very wonderful, poem-worthy tidbits:
1) In the early age of ariel photography, they actually fitted pigeons with cameras, so they could fly up and give it their best Ansel Adams.
2) Istanbul's citizenry was star-gazing back in the 1500s, using tripods, parallactic rulers, and armillary spheres. No joke!
3) Apollo Astronauts each had a "Personal Preference Bag" for carrying their toiletries in.
4) The Land Rover's seats look exactly like beach chairs, with the woven backs and everything. And the fenders! They are very flimsy and rusty. Guess what the tires are made of? Wire mesh! I kid you not!
5) I got to see Mercury Friendship's gauges!
Oh, stop me, please do! I saw several DeKooning's, a roomful of Matisse's, a Serra, a bunch of Motherwell. Oy, it was intoxicating.
But okay, okay, enough sightseeing! Let the wild rumpus begin!
(left: John Glenn's Friendship)
