Dinosaurs

Yesterday's weather turned out much better than expected. I went to the gym in the morning and then met up with Dave for lunch at the Stargate Diner on the Upper East Side, near my old apartment on 90th Street. We walked across Central Park to the Museum of Natural History, stopping at Belvedere Castle to check out the scene overlooking the turtle pond and the Great Lawn. Lots of people were out and the sun was shining.

I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of visiting the museum, because it's always packed with kids and strollers and why do I want to see a bunch of dusty dioramas, anyway? But it turned out to be a lot of fun. The dioramas aren't nearly as dusty as I remembered -- at least, most of them -- and after wandering through the displays you can't help but marvel at the universe, genetics, and all the things we do and don't know.

For example, how do we know what's at the core of the earth, when we're really only able to scratch the surface?

The dinosaurs were pretty great, too. They always bring out the little kid in me, and though it's a cliche, they're great reminders that what seems permanent is actually transient and ephemeral.

(Photo: Financial District, April 2009)