My favorite city

Nothing beats Washington, DC on a beautiful spring day!

One of my favorite spots... National Botanical Gardens

And I arrived during the annual orchid show- wow! 

Love this view down the main room of the gardens. I could live here. 

http://www.usbg.gov/

Looking back toward the garden room and the Capital

The outdoor gardens.
 I'm spying on people enjoying the sun.... 

A mom with her daughtter.
In the background, a professional photogragher takes shots of a couple
and their... puppy.  Adorable.

View toward National Museusm of Anerican Indians.
Love this building.

http://nmai.si.edu/home/

Native Indian museum grounds looking toward the Washington Monument

See why I love this space! 

And my favorite of all-
National Gallery of Art

Classy

Contemplative

And very cool- art AND words. Be still my heart!

http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/aboutnga.shtm

In the Tower: Mel Bochner
November 6, 2011–April 29, 2012

In the Tower is a series of exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art centering on developments in art since midcentury.

Related Resources Works by Mel Bochner in the Gallery's Collection Biography of Mel Bochner Permanent Installation Mel Bochner: Theory of Boundaries (1969–1970)

For some 45 years Mel Bochner has explored the intersections of linguistic and visual representation. As one of the pioneers of conceptual art during the 1960s, Bochner developed an art that causes us to read and see simultaneously—to "think" as we look. The exhibition will present 43 thesaurus-inspired paintings and drawings that span Bochner's career, including the thesaurus paintingsMoney, Die, Useless, Obscene, andSputter; a new monochrome painting (Blah, Blah, Blah); and four major diptychs that have never before been exhibited (Master of the Universe, Oh Well, Amazing!, and Babble). The exhibition will also feature the artist's Portraits series of the 1960s, including several works on view for the first time.

Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art.

Back to flowers- these are along the wall of glass that water flows behind. The wall is between the East and West wings of the gallery. 

West wing is traditional , East is modern. Both are awesome.

The space ship hallway between West and East.
Says something, not sure what.
 I have an amazing camera on my iPhone?

What can I say? I love this city. I love the people here - I talked to a orchid grower who told me all about the orchids in the show, his personal orchid growing stories and then we had a great conversation about his travels with his wife to Nova Scotia, etc.

The young gal at the crosswalk just flew in from Phoenix- she loves DC, lived there for three years but had to leave to get a job... hmm, I should have gotten her contact info, sounds like someone else I know.  She was heading for her favorite Smithsonian museum - the National Gallery of Art, so clearly she is a young woman of great class and taste. :)

I chatted with gallery guards and people on the Metro.   And my terrific day all started with a fabulous lunch with a dear friend, April, who lives with her sweet husband, Martin, just a block off the Mall. I envy their cozy apartment within walking distance of the heart of wonderful Washington.

I'm grateful for the years here that gave me confidence in riding the Metro- I did get on the wrong train once but just hopped off at the next station.  I left my winter clothes with my mother in Tucson (to be taken back to SD)  or in my camper 40 minutes south so I was forced to wear jeans- arghh, not in "chic, all black" DC so I decided to be a tourist and snap photos and "ohh and ahh" over the place. Great fun!

So thank you, DC, for a lovely day- started a bit chilly but the sun came out and it became just perfect. No cherry blossoms yet but the tulip trees were in full beauty and the promise of spring is almost as much fun as the real deal after a long winter.   Thank you to my fabulous hosts, Keith and Sharon, who picked me up at the airport, fed me dinner, gave me a bed, loaned me a car and let me chatter about my life.  Thank you, April, for a yummy lunch and all your kind words of affirmation. I love the book you gave me. Thank you.
(Circle Maker by Mark Batterson  http://www.amazon.com/Circle-Maker-Praying-Circles-Greatest/dp/0310333024)


And thank you, Jesus. Life is good.