It's funny, too, when I wake from sleeping, how I at first think I'm at home. Then something unfamiliar jars me into reality. In my mind, I am wishing I could both be at home and be here. I miss Julia. But in my mind, I can in a way, with memory. Then I think, how perfect is the man-headed bird, symbol for Ba, the soul. The mind can fly anywhere with thought:

Friday, May 22, 2009 B

"Waiting Outside the Met Museum"
9:00am

"Cleopatra's Needle" Obelisk built in 1443 BCE. (1600 BCE?)
It was erected first at Heliopolis, Egypt, and moved to Alexandria in 12 BCE by the Romans.
Later, presented to the City of New York by the Khedive of Egypt in 1879, and erected in Central Park early in 1881.
Pink granite; 69 ft. x 8 ft. 21 meters high and weighs about 180 tons.)
(Read the plaque?)

I accomplished seeing the marvelous "Cleopatra's Needle", obelisk of "User Ma'at Ra", Ramses II. (Possibly it was Thutmose III's first, and usurped by Ramses II? This would account for dating discrepancy.) What a marvelous feeling to stand beneath it and look way up:

It is immense. I took a photo of the hieroglyph translation, but if it is not legible, I suspect the translation is online.

I walked around to the Museum entrance, tried the door, but found it unmovable. They do not open until 9:30am. I do not mind. I am glad to park my wide butt on the steps and sit and rest...

...The closer it gets to 9:30am, the larger the waiting crowd grows. I hear many languages, among them Italian and German most recognizable.