Sailboats, art, and cool water

On my last afternoon in Big City With Cool Lakefront, I met Lucy Pigpuppet, a blogger I’ve known for years, even though this was our first time meeting in person. She turned out to be just as friendly and fun as I expected. (And yeah, the pseudonym is her choice, not mine.) We walked to the yacht club where sailboats from all over the country were gathered for some race. The rigging of the sailboats chimed as their crews climbed about, getting the boats ready. A big sign near the entrance warned that the yacht club was closed to non-members, but no one stopped us as we strode about the docks.

“If anyone asks, we’re just going to our boat,” Lucy said.
“I feel like I’m wearing an invisibility cloak,” I said.

When the blazing sun at the water’s edge grew too hot, we sought the shade of a lakeside park. Then we stepped into the air-conditioned art museum and spent several hours happily wandering about, looking at paintings and sculptures and furniture. Lucy’s approach to an art museum is as random as mine: we both agreed that it wasn’t even worth the bother to grab a map, since it was more fun to just meander from collection to collection, trying to make sense of everything we saw and reading signs when the mood struck us, until we were both in an over-stimulated art museum daze.

The afternoon went by too quickly, and soon it was time to go back out into the heat and walk back towards her train and my hotel. On a shortcut through the park, we came across a canal of cold water, where some families with little kids were sitting with their feet in the water. “That’s a great idea,” I said.

I took off my socks and sneakers: the cold water felt great on my tired feet. We sat on the edge, our feet dangling in the water. After the crowded sidewalks of the city and the rooms full of bright objects at the art museum, the quiet spot hedged by trees and hidden by a wall seemed just right.



Please note the skirt. Lucy Pigpuppet remained fully clothed for this blogger meet-up. Rumors that I’m always making bloggers get naked for my camera are completely unfounded.