Grand Time

"Boating" by Édouard Manet

The wonderful painting by Manet is one of many that I saw when I visited the Houston Museum of Fine Arts exhibit of French paintings from the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

My friend from my college days invitied me to visit her in Houston. We had not seen each other for several years, so I decided to go and, while I was there, take in the exhibit. The Met in NYC can be overwhelming, so it was good to see a manageable number of their masterpieces at the HMFA. Lovely way to spend an afternoon, indeed.

Before leaving, I joked about going to the city of freeways that turn into giant parking lots. However, my friend lives in a charming older house in a beautiful neighborhood full of old-growth trees. We took several enjoyable walks through the neighborhood, and we drove through other attractive sections, at times driving under oak tree canopies. I came away with a much more positive impression of Houston after this visit.

It was good to see my friend again. Even after years of not seeing each other, when we get together, we can pick up where we left off. It's almost as though time has not passed.

We gathered for meals and interesting and stimulating conversation a couple of times with several of her lively, intelligent, and well-informed friends. For my meal at the Mexican restaurant, I ordered a Mexican omelet called Tortilla Azteca, which included strips of cactus as one of the ingredients. My first taste of cactus, and it was delicious!

My friend, if you read this, thank you for a grand time.

UPDATE: I have been informed that another name for my Mexican omelet is huevos con napales.