Finally, we got Maria to Mass-Moca as a birthday on our fourth attempt to get there after one storm after another turned us back. We asked Ian McRae if he wanted to come, and he jumped at the idea.

Ian was great fun, as usual. We get each other.

He loves art as much as Maria, and the two wore me out exploring every corner of this vast and excellent museum. I took pictures and had to sit down and watch the families with their kids for a while. A severe cold and much walking wore me down, but I loved being there.

We had a wonderful time. When we went to Mass MoCA, we invited Ian to come with us often, and he said yes.

Maria and I have decided to visit a museum one Saturday every month. Afterward, we all went to a terrific Korean restaurant in Williamstown. We ate there yesterday in one of our storm-blocked efforts to get to the museum. I love to have the chance to take my monochrome and try to capture the experience in black and white.

Ian is an excellent company; he feels like family. He insisted on wearing a tie and jacket. “I have to,” he said, “I’m going to a museum.”

I feel very close to Ian. He is not my son; he has a good father he loves deeply. But sometimes, when I see him laugh or grow, I think of the son (and daughter) we lost soon after my first marriage.

My son can’t be replaced, and I am pleased to know Ian as a friend. You never know where they come from, but something powerful connects us.

I will never fully recover from the loss of those children or forget them, but my life has gone on and grown richer. I felt a pang when I saw Maria and Ian walking together on their museum visit.

I wondered if it could have been my son Ben.

 Ian stand behind this striking exhibit; I got a shot of him staring still, taking it in.

Maria looked up at a tall exhibit.

Self Portrait, me at Mass Moca Men’s Room.

“May The Internet Support Peace And Well Being For All Life Now And Always.” Internet Chapel, Mass MoCa Museum.

Ian and a White Cow

I liked this photo of Ian and Maria at both ends of an exhibit table.

Maria is never happier than when she gets to wander in a museum. It’s the perfect birthday present for her every year. I also bought her something else, a photograph that is not of her but speaks of her to me.