My friend Joann took me out for lunch at her favorite Chinese/Mongolian restaurant, Little Q Hot Pot, yesterday. It's a cute little nook on Mass Ave in Arlington, near her new house. Since I'd never had the hot pot experience, we went for it. The tables have a depression in the middle with a hotplate in them, into which they place a large bowl of broth. You then choose what you want to go into it: noodles, meats, veggies, etc. We chose shrimp, pork, and mushrooms. You also get a basket of greens, including bok choy, spinach, and (I think) watercress. The waitress showed us how to cook everything in the broth, and left us to our own devices. Everything was delicious! It was fun and interactive. And the mushrooms were quite photogenic.



The morning's rain had cleared up, and it was feeling quite balmy, so we decided to go to the Museum of Fine Arts. Not sure what the parking/snow situation was going to be, we decided public transportation was probably our best bet. A bus and two trains later, we arrived at the MFA ready to dive into art and history.



The art spills out onto the grounds; there are sculptures all around the building.



A very friendly guide asked if we'd seen the time capsule yet, and gave me detailed directions to find it. On the way, we took in the Klimt (the first one ever to hang at the MFA!) and a few Picassos.



They had the contents of the box laid out under glass, with detailed descriptions of everything. It was cool to see all the old coins, and several newspapers which no longer exist. They even had the box itself.



Our next stop was the Ancient History wing, both of us being history buffs. Of course, I had to visit Sekhmet and pay Her my respects. I took the day's selfie with Her.



I've always been drawn to this statue, and Sekhmet keeps popping up in various places in my life. Having been born under the sign of the lion, I suppose it's not too surprising.

After a stop in the gift shop, we made the trek back. It was rush hour by then, so the trains were pretty packed. When we exited the Davis Square station, there was a heavy downpour happening. And... what's that? White stuff? No, not snow. Hail. Little ice pellets bouncing off the road, the bricks, peoples' heads. And it was suddenly cold. To heck with that! Joann called Betty to come pick us up, as waiting in the hail for a bus didn't sound very appealing. We ended up going to a cute little Lebanese restaurant for supper, which was much more fun than sitting in rush hour traffic on Route 2. By the time we left it was very windy and cold, but my car has heated seats and the ride home was uneventful. It was a fun day with great friends, and it felt really good to get out, get moving, and do something different for a change. It's been such a long winter.