A moment of peace

There's a fresh white blanket of snow falling, Isaac is asleep, and Pamela and Bella are out. I've got the fire turned on, I just finished a half hour on the elliptical, and I did a Pimsleur Japanese lesson (number 73 of 90 - I learned about headaches, stomachaches, and fevers)

Bella is off to a "princess tea party" for one of her friends. But Bella is QUITE done with pink and princesses right now: she has been giving away pink things to her friends (though not Doggie the Dog, of course). And her "fancy dress" for the day is a grey pantsuit that makes her look like a 1970s photojournalist... but the black bow in her hair and a bangley bracelet makes it "fancy".

We went to put the wreath on Alexander's grave only to find that the ground is frozen so hard, we couldn't stick it down... so we left it as is and crossed our fingers that the wind would be kind... and vowed to return with a powerdrill.

Now, for fans of the surreal: I should share that I had a very strange and vivid dream:

I was visiting a restaurant that our family had been long time patrons of in my youth (this is the story in my head - in truth I remember no such restaurant like this!). There's a roundabout for the front door, which leads to elevators, which take you down one level (or stairs if you prefer). As you stand in the elevator lobby, there are three rooms: To the left, there is the main dining room, which is a very average, white tablecloth affair... low ceilings, but the walls are all tall windows which look out onto a nice lake. Straight ahead is the bar, which runs parallel to the dining room: All dark wood, no tables, just a looooong bar.

But to the RIGHT is the "Starlight Room". This is a medium sized sphere, with the walls bulging out just a little. There's clearly an iron gridwork, and there are 2x2 gold brocade wall panels. There are only around 10 tables in here, and it's lit by pinpoint lights peeking out from where the panels meet in the corners. A few panels are off of the wall, allowing me to see behind. (they are in the middle of renovating this room).

All around the OUTSIDE of the sphere are scaffolds with chairs on them, with music stands. There are two rings of musicians. Yes, as you eat in the Starlight room, right behind the panels is a small orchestra, surrounding you with live music. Immediately by the door to the room is a small control room where the conductor keeps the players in sync with 1960's era radio headsets, and small cue lights for each chair.

Alas, the future is coming to the Starlight room: As they're reworking the room, they're replacing the chairs with surround sound speakers. The live musicians are hard to come by these days, and too expensive. But to compensate, they're also replacing the brocade panels with thin LCD panels. In their normal state, the room looks as it used to... but with a few key strokes in the control room, part of the wall turns into an aquarium. With another few strokes, the sky turns into a starry night, with meteors streaking across.

I'm struck that while the old technology was very charming, this new room might just be an allright place to be. We leave the workers and our old friends the Maitre D' and the Conductor (now the video/audio orchestrator) alone to their work, and back into the elevators. We may be back for dinner sometime... but if memory serves, the spectacle of the Starlight room was always better than the food...