The plan for the day was going to
observe the new Dale Chihuly exhibit housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston Massachusetts. The artist Dale Chihuly is known for his exquisite blown
glass sculptures that reach breathtaking heights that seem impossible given how
fragile glass is usually thought to be. My family had traveled to Boston to
visit my Mom’s side of the family that weekend, and my Aunt suggested the
museum as an interesting day trip to take together. As we prepared to go to the
museum later that day, my grandmother reached into her bag and pulled out a
little plastic package to give to my two-year-old cousin, telling him that she
had forgotten to include the toy in his Christmas stocking and had meant to
give it to him the next time she saw him. The toy was a Santa version of one of
those classic tiny, squishy toys that expand after you leave them in water for
an extended period of time. My little cousin Robert didn’t exactly understand
the concept of leaving his new toy alone for a couple hours and insisted he
bring the miniature Santa along on the car ride to the art museum. Now Robert’s
parents agreed seeing as there was no apparent harm that could come from him
carrying the small toy with him.
Fast-forward to the arriving at the
actual museum, and my relatives and I are all enjoying the beautiful art on
display at the MFA. The print work and three-dimensional sculptures were
incredible to see and we walked the galleries for around four hours. At this
point everyone is in agreement that wrapping up the visit to go find food was
the best option seeing as it was nearing lunch-time. Robert up until this point
had been extremely well behaved and was receiving praise for his patience
throughout the visit. I also thought Robert was handling four hours in a museum
surprisingly well for his age although it was obvious that four hours was his
tipping point because he became visibly restless and mentioned frequently that
he was hungry. His exclamations of hunger were only voicing what many of us
were feeling so that wasn’t a major problem until we stepped into the food
court and our eyes scanned the gigantic line that spanned half way across the
huge room. We all let out a collective sigh as we joined the back of the line
and chatted with one another to pass the time.
The museum hosted an entire exhibit
of Dale Chihuly’s work and although his work had a separate exhibit, one of his
pieces called the “lime green icicle tower” resided in the middle of the
massive lunch room, surrounded by a circular bench with a small sign advising
visitors to refrain for touching the sculpture. This sculpture was about 40
feet high with green icicle like spikes protruding from all around its
perimeter. The tower was the focal point of the room and anyone that entered
the room would agree that their eyes went straight to it. The food line was not
at a complete stand still although try explaining that to a hangry
two-year-old. To distract Robert and keep him happy, my older cousin Jules, my
sister, and I offered to occupy him at the bench underneath the large green
tower. We would be visible from the line and his parents were grateful for the
offer. The pace of line had begun to pick up so we told our parents what we
wanted for lunch and took Robert to get a closer look at the sculpture. We had
been sitting there, talking for about five minutes when Robert fishes around in
his pocket only to pull out the miniature Santa water toy from earlier and
proceeds to have the toy walk across the stone bench we were sitting on. The
sound of employees shouting orders to the back had increased and it looked as
though the cafeteria had finally gotten a handle on the crowd. The long line
had been moving up as fast as the employees could take orders. My family was
just a few people away in-line from receiving their food. Jules, my sister, and
I were relieved Robert would be eating in the not so distant future seeing as
his mood had not picked up in the slightest.
As our parents and grandparents
wandered in our direction with the food, Robert takes this moment to gaze up at
the bright green glass tower and look at the toy in the palm of his hand.
Without warning Robert pulls his arm back and proceeds to launch the tiny Santa
straight at the art piece in full view of my entire family. Let the slow-mo
movie scene commence as we all witness the Santa fly 20-some-odd feet up and disappear
into the glass tower. Before we all could see the humorous side to this situation, we
collectively searched the visible sides of the tower for the toy. The panic
increased slightly when we realized there was a security guard that was
patrolling the room although he thankfully didn't seem to have seen the grumpy
toddler chuck the toy into the glass tower. The search was fruitless and the
Santa still remains somewhere in that sculpture today.
Now whenever I see a picture of the
green sculpture I can't help but laugh knowing that a tiny Santa toy is hidden
within the spikes. My family and I will remember that memory forever and add it
to the list of embarrassing things we plan on teasing my little cousin for when
he’s older. That day helped me see the humor in certain situations and learn
that as long as the action didn’t harm anything it’s alright to laugh.
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