Pinocchio

Pinocchio is a city boy who ventures out into the suburbs as little as possible. Nevertheless, after a relatively quiet weekend he was ready to get out and about for some socializing, so he finagled himself a ride and made his way to the depths of Potomac for the Washington Ballet Women’s Committee’s end of the year pool party. He does admit it was lovely and peaceful, and was rather jealous of his host’s wonderful outdoor space. He greatly enjoyed the prickly pear margaritas, homemade pizza, mushroom risotto and mini ice cream cones, but certainly did not feel like donning a bathing suit after such indulgence. Instead Pinocchio hung out on the spacious deck and chatted away with various people (he always likes a good gossip). He had a lovely evening in the suburbs, but was quite happy to return to his small flat in the city...one can never be certain what kind of creatures might live so far out…


The following evening Pinocchio found himself at one of his favorite places in Washington, the National Gallery of Art, for a tour followed by a reception. There were numerous tours and talks taking place throughout the museum, and he joined that of the exhibition German Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, 1580-1900. He found the tour most interesting and loved Johann Elias Ridinger’s drawing The Rhinoceros “Miss Clara” (a touring Indian rhinoceros who was apparently quite the hit in mid-18th century Europe). He does, however, wish that the curator had not gone so much over his allotted time…a talk becomes infinitely less captivating when one can hear everybody else making their way to a reception! Pinocchio did eventually get there, and as usual the National Gallery did not disappoint. He loved the gorgeous flower arrangements (peonies), and the food, despite the lack of interesting vegetarian options, was as tasty as always. Pinocchio had no problem indulging in the yummy breads and cheese, and he fully enjoyed the desserts, which ranged from cupcakes to baked Alaska to bread pudding to ice cream. And, of course, he might just have had a glass of bubbly or two. As usual he was amongst the last to leave – luckily he has many like minded friends so he is never alone when doing so!