Let Sleeping Ducks Lie

Sunday I ventured up to the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan. I cut through the top of Central Park to get from the subway at 110th to the museum at 103rd, and came across this freaky creature:





Yup. Miniature, misplaced lobster on the path by the Harlem Meer. It was not only freakish in appearance, but (understandably) freaked-out as well:




I really want to know who first looked at a lobster and thought, I bet that would make a great snack.




Here are some less unusual-looking creatures: ducks! Having a mid-morning nap.



In the museum itself; I have a weakness for spiral staircases. (Also chandeliers.)



The Mannahatta/Manhattan exhibit began, appropriately and wonderfully, with this quote from Gatsby.



"For a transitory enchanted moment, man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."

Isn't commensurate a beautiful word? Sadly, Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" would also have been appropriate: We paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.

On left, what was; on right, what is.

On one hand, the passenger pigeon and the eskimo curlew are globally extinct; on the other hand, we can get pizza delivered at 4am if we want to. Fair trade?



We also have gourmet treats on wheels; walking down Lexington, I spied the elusive Cupcake Truck for the first time.

Not to end this on too much of a down note, I'd like to share with you the knowledge gleaned Saturday night with my mom, her uncle, her aunt, and her aunt's iPhone. In case any of you were also curious about chickens' reproductive systems, rest assured that most eggs we buy and eat are unfertilized; hens lay eggs whether there are roosters around or not. Fertilized eggs are also safe to eat, but should be candled (held up to a light) first; if you see a baby chicken embryo, that omelet is a no-go. Blood spots, however, are not a cause for worry - you can take them out with the tip of a knife. (I imagine the corner of a spatula would work just as well.) I won't get any more detailed than that, except to say that Google is a strange and wonderful thing, and there are some crazy people out there, and I would like to thank those crazy people for making us laugh so hard. If any of the above seems implausible to you, just continue believing that the stork brings the baby chicks; you won't be alone.



What I'm reading: It Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather B. Armstrong; A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

What I'm listening to: Stay On My Side Tonight by Jimmy Eat World