Reunion DC-Style

Lovely afternoon spent with a dear friend, and it's been too long in coming. I realize the last time I saw Jan was at her wedding to David (1997?). And today their beautiful daughters An Mei and Mei Li, became real to me in a way the photographs over the years just never conveyed. 

We met at the Phillips Collection art museum where we toured their current exhibition "Made in the USA" as well as what was up of the their permanent collection. Afterwards we walked to my favorite Thai restaurant, Taiphoon on the north end of the Dupont Circle neighborhood for dinner. (I had the Honey Ginger Duck--I always have the Honey Ginger Duck.) 

And here's the thing--the barometer of true friendships. It was like no time had passed between us. We just picked up where life had last left us apart.

They are staying in a rental apartment in DC for the week. And we'd all arrived via the Metro, ergo after dinner we walked to and entered the metro together to return to our residences. We were chatting and not paying intense attention to the arrival of the train. As is the custom, riders exiting a train take priority and then as soon as they have vacated, those waiting on the platform enter. Well, An Mei and Mei Li were intent on entering, and I let go of the conversation between their parents and me and followed close by (call it the inner eye of the teacher) without any conscious effort. But no sooner had the three of us entered than the train's doors shut with an uncharacteristic finality. I turned to see my friend Jan's foot in the closed door, and it didn't open back up! (The damn thing ALWAYS opens back up when it encounters an obstacle. I've seen a frantically inserted pinky finger open the doors and keep the train in place.) As she pulled her foot free, I tried to say through the closed door's window, "We'll see you at the Chinatown station." And then woosh!--the train was movin' on down the line.

In the end, that is what happened. The girls and I arrived 12 minutes ahead of Jan and David. Yet, such is the stuff of a good story. An unexpected plot twist, a moment of danger, a hastily sent communique before the lines fall dead, strangers making light banter, anxiety at the moment of rendezvous, a momentary let down, a miraculous reunion. Alls well that ends well.

Here are three of the works from the exhibition that I especially liked.  If you're in DC in the near future, do take in the show.

 December Moonrise, by Charles Burchfield (1893-1967)

 Lunch Counter, by Isabel Bishop (1902-1988)

Still Life with Doily, by Alfred Maurer (1868-1932)