A Day Spent in Brooklyn

But first I shopped at the MacArthur Center Mall. Barnes and Noble just happened to be right around the corner... and the WWII shelf just happened to be first in line. And how could I resist a title like Sailor from Oklahoma (2009) from the Naval Institute Press? It's another rare enlisted Navy man's account of WWII from his experiences all over the world. I can't wait to start chapter 1.. "Escape from Oklahoma". I picked up an inexpensive, hardback ESV Bible (in the same font and style as my childhood 1984 NIV) while I continued looking around. Then I located the mall's only toy store... Go! Toys and Games for a beautiful 500-pc piece peacock puzzle, a 6" globe puzzle, and a gift for my niece and nephew. Put those things in the car, then went to Brooklyn... at the movies for a matinee.

42 was fabulous! Very 40s indeed! I was totally taken in with Harrison Ford's different sounding voice I didn't even recognize him for a minute or two. The details of the story of Jackie Robinson were all new to me, so I enjoyed every minute, wondering what would happen.

Stopped by Chipotle in Ghent for dinner, and looked in an incredible movie rental store... they had huge shelves up and down the store (like a crammed used book store) filled with films categorized by director. I might go there every day if I lived nearer... :) It seemed encyclopedic at the least. Stepped in a small art gallery after eating as well, and if I had a couple extra thousand dollars to burn, I would have come home with a neat impressionistic oil painting of three snowy egrets flying over a river's mouth, and a more realistic painting of birches along a forest lane.

While driving to and from downtown, I kept listening to 1776 by McCullough. Just happen to be in the middle (and now aftermath of) the Battle of Brooklyn, August of '76.

This evening I drove back downtown for the Virginia Stage Company's production of The Odd Couple (Niel Simon, 1965)... which I believe is set in New York (I thought I heard a reference to Central Park). I went to it even though beforehand, while resting in bed, I was hurting from not taking pills in time for cramps. I figured I could lay there in pain or go and watch a fabulous play in pain, the latter taking my mind completely off it (and the pills started kicking in too). I'm so glad I did! It was so funny and touching. That and they offered a Military/Student special of $16.50 tickets for day of the show purchases.

I was completely wiped out when I got home, though. I fell asleep on the couch for a bit after talking to Mike. What a fun day!

Jw