Art, Science, History, and a Little Home-Ec

This was a really educational trip for us: Mom, Starfish, and Gigi. Usually Starfish and I go to her appointments at Yale alone. But this time we took Gigi for a little birthday trip. It sure was fun to have a sister along for the ride!

Along with some amazing sightseeing, shopping, and culinary experiences (Vietnamese anyone?) we got some educational opportunities that would make any private-school-tuition-paying parent positively green with envy. (Thus I had absolutely NO guilt whatsoever about the 3 days lost from school!) And we accomplished all this in a VERY short time and managed a big 6-hour doctor's visit plus a little relaxation too! Here are the highlights:

BODIES REVEALED exhibit at the South Street Seaport - perfect for my aspiring doctor, (above).

What a piece of work is man! How like an angel, how like a god. The beauty of the world! ~William Shakespeare

This was the most amazing museum exhibit I have ever seen. I can't even describe the feelings I had as I was able to see, up close, and in such extraordinary detail, how our bodies were created and function.

The specimens were real human bodies. It was hard not to think about the fact that these were real people, just like us. We all learned so much!

I am humbled and in awe of this gift of a body that we have been given while we spend our time on Earth. It is truly wondrous and magnificent!

MRS. DELANEY'S FLOWERS at the Yale Art Gallery - perfect for my little artist.

The Yale Art Gallery has lots of wonderful things to see. But Mrs. Delaney's Flowers was the headlining exhibit while we were there. Apparently Mrs. Delaney was a very artistic woman who had mastered all of the "leisure arts". Some of these beautiful flowers were created by cutting and arranging tiny paper pieces. Others were embroidered onto a black velvet background and used for dresses or in screens. She took here inspiration directly from nature. I was amazed at what she created without any patterns or color charts.

While we couldn't take photos inside the gallery, I took this at the entrance. This is a massive display of greenery and dried flowers that seem to float in the air to soaring heights. The picture doesn't really do it justice. I walked away wondering how I could duplicate the floating flower effect in my house...

GROUND ZERO at the World Trade Center Site.

We were blown here!

This was not on our list of places to visit, simply because I didn't think we would have time. But when we were trying to figure out the right direction to get to the Bodies exhibit, the wind was so strong and cold that we couldn't really wank in any other direction than the one that brought us here.

I didn't even know we were that close to it!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see much because the area is all fenced off. But we saw the pictures of what the final monument will look like one day and see the cranes and all the work going on to create it..

Most importantly, I was able to feel that this was indeed a very special place. And feel the hope that comes from seeing the people going on with their lives yet never forgetting...

YALE & The RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE - New Haven, CT

We finally got the chance to explore around Yale and had a good time even though the weather was bad.





A Yale sorority brought cake decorating supplies over to the Ronald McDonald House and the girls had fun decorating a cake--and probably ate way too much frosting in the process!