Where should we go today? Father's Day 2010

We love Father's Day around here, doing do our best to allow dh a bit of R-and-R and getting to be in charge (for a change!). 

On dh's "favorite things to do list" is walking ... (no matter how hot) ... and walking around D.C. is higher on the list ... and walking around D.C. and visiting the National Gallery of Art is probably pretty much on the top of his list.

So, after dropping Kotch off at her summer job (she'll be teaching various subjects to inner-city middle school girls and helping with drama; all while living in Washington AND getting paid -- cool, eh?), we headed to the National Mall and our favorite, always open parking spot ... and then headed to the National Gallery of Art.  By this point, we needed nourishment and headed directly to the NGA's cafe and had amazing gelato ...

and took the requisite picture of the kids in front of the waterfall. 

Heading upstairs we wandered the sacred art galleries, the Dutch painters and investigated the dellaRobbias.  What an amazing collection we have FREE in D.C.!  We are so blessed to be able to spend a few hours, just wandering and finding old favorites and new works to add to our favored lists. 

A request from the kids had us heading over to the Archives (with a quick stop to cool feet in the fountain in the Sculpture Garden -- all perfectly legal!).  The Archives is the home of THE most important documents for our country -- Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights. 

After finally getting to see them "live" we checked out the "Public Vaults" exhibit which is a great overview of exactly the job placed in the hands of the National Archive and Record Administration -- the keeper of the nation's records.

Heading home in afternoon I-95 traffic, we mused over our weekend ... which included a quick run down to Craig Springs for our annual Infant of Prague Pilgrimage -- this year including 160+ other Catholics with lots of babies and kids running around and having fun in the beautiful Allegheny Highlands.

And lest you think I was forgotten today, never fear.  ALWAYS check the sale tables ... I found a lovely art book at the NGA titled In Praise of the Needlewoman: Embroiderers, Knitters, Lacemakers and Weavers in Art ... a collection of 80-some gorgeous works of art that show women creating gorgeous works of art with a needle of one kind or another.  The book includes "The Knitting Lesson" by Jean-Francois Millet ... the work that graces the cover of my Great Yarns for the Close-Knit Family -- as well as other works of art by amazing artists.  I'm thinking this would be a GREAT book for picture study next Fall!

Prayers and blessings to all fathers, living or deceased, but especially to my dh who does so much for us ... a single day hardly seems fair ... so, since he is finally done with teaching for the summer, maybe we'll just have to let him be in charge a little longer (maybe!).

Feast Day: Epiphany (Little Christmas)

Epiphany!  We also call this "Little Christmas".  Even though the Catholic Church in America celebrates Epiphany on the 2nd Sunday after Christmas - so last Sunday - most of the world celebrates this day 12 days after Christmas ... or, today!  This is the day we remember that Jesus came into the world for ALL -- not just the Chosen People, but for all Gentiles too.  Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar (the names traditionally given to the Magi or Wise Men) were the first gentiles to see the Word Incarnate!  How cool is that?

We'll read books on this Little Christmas:

Baboushka and the Three Kings

The Legend of Old Befana

The Story of the Three Wise Kings

and finish up with:

Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors (the version we have is one that is retold in narrative form by Frances Frost, preserving the exact dialogue of the opera)

We'll make Almond Kringle -- I'll make two, freezing one to have for Mardi Gras 2010, which this year is Tuesday, February 16th.  I made this for Christmas morning and it was a big hit.  If you click on the link, scroll down and I've got the recipe there.

We'll round out the evening with a viewing of the following items from the National Gallery of Art's loan program (where you can order materials for the cost of mailing them back to the NGA!):

Adoration of the Magi

The Christmas Story in Art (video)

Happy Little Christmas to one and all ....

Where should we go today?

The Beffi Triptych (early 15th century)

Well ... the PLAN was to go to the Diocesan Pilgrimage up at the National Shrine -- in honor of Our Lady Cause of Our Joy, getting there in plenty of time at attend Mass with our good Bishop Loverde.  We love going to the Shrine and Mass with the Bishop is always a delight.

However ... we didn't count on Saturday traffic on I95 -- it took over two hours for us to get into D.C. which would make us miss at least half of Mass!  Bummer. 

But, famous for making lemonade out of lemons, my dh suggested we make our own pilgrimage to the National Gallery of Art ... visiting the amazing (and quite varied) Marian art from the 14th to the 18th century.  We're talking Fra Lippi, Della Robbia ... gorgeous stuff.  We prayed the Rosary in the van, coming and going, and prayed especially for the intentions of Bishop Loverde.

In addition, there is a traveling exhibit, here until November 1st, that the boys have been wanting to see:  The Art of Power.  This exhibit has armor from 1500-1675 from Imperial Spain.  But more than just armor, the exhibit includes tapestries and paintings that link the real armor to other pieces of art.  It's hard to imagine the glorious art and craftsmanship in the armor, the skill of the metal-craftsman that could make the armor look like cloth!  Wow!

We were also able to get inches away from the Beffi Triptych on loan from Italy to the United States as a thank you for our helping when they had the horrible earthquakes in the Abruzzo region in April 2009. 

A quick trip to the Cascade Cafe in the basement (between the East and West Buildings) and our absolute FAVORITE lunch spot on the Mall ... and we were home in time to catch most of the Alabama/Ole Miss game ... and prep for the BIG game tonight Florida at LSU!

Life is good!