Happy Events

Two happy events of late, one in the stratosphere, one just nicely satisfying. The first is the first granddaughter, a skinny beauty, 21 inches long and eight pounds, with amazing long fingers and eyes that she likes to open one at a time, as if she's not quite sure she wants to be in this new place. She grips firmly with those fingers when offered a grown-up finger and we spent a lot of time this past weekend sitting with her in one or another's lap, just staring at this perfect new miracle. She had some oxygen level problems for a few days, but came home from the hospital earlier than expected and at one week got pronounced perfect by her pediatrician, with no need for another visit until the routine check-up at one month. Ellison Jane.

And the second, passing all the hurdles to become a tour guide at the American Museum of Natural History, then giving my first tour on Wednesday. At the peak there were more than 20 visitors following me around, most of them from Australia. Enthused at each stop, I talked way too long, lost track of the time, and had to end the tour before visiting all the halls I'd planned, but they left applauding and more excited about the museum. And that last is the point.