City Views, Country Dreams

Hello from New York on an evening in early May.


I've had the luxury of two days off from work in a row. Yesterday was a day to tend to many errands, and then enjoy the fun of meeting up with a dear friend to sample delicious coffee and pastry, while having a long-postponed catch up. Our conversation ranged over many topics, from sudden current events, to family matters, to travel plans and wishes, to springtime's beauty.

We had a quick walk in Central Park and visited the Turtle Pond. The friendly turtles were very disappointed that we had not brought them a snack.

Today began with my having to take care of yet more errands, but with a list scribbled on a little square of paper clenched in my hand, I managed to get past those errands by midday, and then got to treat myself to my first visit to Savage Beauty, the Alexander McQueen exhibit that has just landed on the second floor of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.



While I was still in mid-town on errand duty, I had snapped this photo of one of the Bergdorf Goodman shop windows now devoted to showing McQueen styles.

The BG windows are as imaginative as ever, but this time around I would give my applause to those who designed the Met's settings for the McQueen exhibit. The various gallery rooms offer lots and lots of atmosphere, information and ... if you are patient and wait for other eager viewers to move out of your intended viewing space, the possibility of really, really seeing how beautiful, crazy, traditionally inspired, historically reverential, beautifully tailored, and sometimes even scary, garments might actually exist.

Most of the rooms in the exhibit are moody and dark, with display cases holding four or five or maybe, three mannequins. There is dramatic lighting. There is music that is eerie and beautiful. There are lots and lots of captions and credits on labels. No way to read much of this because of the crowds with their elbows.

Over the years, of course, I saw many magazine photos of many of these designs, and saw some of the garments for sale in some expensive shops. However, the impact of having so many designs now displayed at the Met is so much more dramatic. How I do wish that Alexander McQueen were still alive, and able to quietly visit the exhibit and see the reactions of all those folks who are being introduced to his talent.

If you are in New York this spring and are at all curious about fashion, you would be very wise to pay a visit to the second floor of the Met.

It seemed so odd to leave the Museum and return to the early afternoon sunshine. I made a point of taking a photo of the tulips along Park Avenue for a certain resident of Vienna. The tulips are a bit past their prime, but still putting on a fine show.

And then, I hopped on a crosstown bus that obligingly arrived just when I hoped it would. As we traveled westward through Central Park, I took my camera out and clicked just one final photo, of the area of the Diana Ross playground, to show some of the beauty of springtime 2o11.

Rain is due tomorrow!

I will be returning to work, and taking along my umbrella, and know that from time to time, my mind's eye will return to the fantastic visions under glass that I was fortunate to see today.

Sometimes a city view can provide a city dream.