Turning 200

It's my birthday today. It's also my 200th post! My sister is in the kitchen now, making me a big fat chocolate cake. Last night I celebrated by going out to eat with some friends at Sylvia's, the famous soul food restaurant in Harlem. It was fun, but I must say I was not impressed with the food. And since Sylvia herself no longer runs the place and it's not in the South, I guess that's what you get. They were all out of desserts, so we stopped at McDonald's for hot fudge sundaes before walking home in time to see Michael Phelps win his 8th gold, and Usain Bolt from Jamaica practically dance across the finish line of the 100 meter. What amazing athletes!


Today my sister and I went to Central Park and played Scrabble by the baseball fields. She beat me by a couple of points, but only because she wouldn't let me use the word Tazer.


We went to a part of the park I hadn't been in before, the Conservatory Garden, which is just gorgeous. The first section is French in style, and features a lovely sculpture of three frolicking maidens.


The middle section is Italian style, with terraces overlooking a fountain and a large grassy area. The terraces are shrouded in Victorian cast-iron lattices which are covered with very old vines. E pointed out to me that up in the tops of the vines are sleeping raccoons! If you are standing under the vines and look up, you can see faint round shapes, like nests, cradled at the corners of the lattice. The raccoons are up there, curled in balls, sleeping until night. Except a few baby ones were awake and wrestling. So cute. I am obsessed with these striped leaves, which may appear in my future artwork.


My pictures aren't the best. The third part of the garden is English, with an intimate little lily pond at the center, with a fountain dedicated to Frances Hodgsen Burnett, one of my favorite authors of the 19th century.

Now I'm home, watching more Olympics, playing with my new Mac (yay! I finally have a computer that works!!!) and trying to guess what my presents are going to be. E is giving me clues, but they aren't helping...