1) The price of spontaneity is sometimes confusion. Since none of us had made any plans, When I felt it was time for Daddy to get fed, I searched the house and grounds, let M. Davide know I was heading off, and off I went.
2) Another sign Daddy had in his office was Alice's dialogue with the Cheshire Cat that ends "Then it doesn't really matter which way you go." So I kept drifting along Comical Street until I decided I wanted to lunch on the water, and sought out Café PayPay in the East End.
3) Miraculously, the small table for two at the center of the waterfront railing was free for me! Aperol spritz + lobster salad + To Dare More Boldly = perfect.
4) From there I drifted to PAAM, which I very rarely visit. Wonderful exhibitions. It's interesting to observe how a painting hung by itself at a far wall can come to inhabit an entire space.
4a) Aside from the exhibitions PAAM had a 12x12 silent auction going on, of 12x12 works of art by members. I was surprised to find myself bidding on a painting!
5) Ambling through almost all of the East End galleries, I saw works I loved, works I admired, and works that made me ask "WTF?" It is ever thus.
5a) In one gallery I had to ask myself "Are you in love with this painting, or are you in love with a color scheme in a silver-gilt frame?"
5b) And I was delighted to run into my friend Andrew, who is always good about sending me Articles of Interest for Etiquetteer.
6) Mercy goodness, there is a West End gallery exhibiting original works of art by ye Tym of Fynlynd! #scandalous
7) As long as I'd made it to Aretha Franklin Street, I paid a call at Hochmina-sur-Mer and chatted with the boys a bit before returning home to commit Acts of Cleanliness and Minor Surgery before tea.
8) Tea was . . . interesting, not least because I decided to have not one but two of ye Bytteslyp's lethal planter's punches. Undoubtedly the weather had something to do with the comparatively sparse turnout. I kept bringing up references to The Horror of Party Beach.
9) Just before the end of tea Daniel and I cut out to attempt a dining experience at ye Frynte Strytte. And after a considerable wait, we did get two seats at the bar for a very good dinner and some good talk.
9a) I must say, it was valuable to watch all the restaurant staff interact with each other. Some of them have clearly been working as a team for years and years. They know what they're doing and how to do it, and they take care of their people well.
10) A visit to Ben and Jerry's to feed my unborn child, and then a walk back down Comical Street in a gentle mist that grew heavier as we walked along.
11) Happy to be snug in bed now, glad I didn't get my act together enough to take the boat back tonight.