At its best, life can be so simple and good. As it should be. On Saturday morning, Nana and I packed up the kids and we headed over to their favorite place in all of Washington, the huge and wonderful and occasionally elevating Smithsonian complex. We were all in agreement that the Smithsonian, or ‘Smitty’, as Jannie has called it since she was a very little girl, was where we wanted to be today.
The only issues were where to go first, and, ultimately, where to go during the day.
Since Nana would be there for only a few hours with little Alex, we let her pick out the day’s first stop.
‘Let me guess,’ Jannie said, and rolled her eyes, ‘The Museum of African Art?’
Nana Mama shook a finger at Jannie. ‘No, Ms Weisenheimer.  Actually, I’d like to go to the Arts and Industries Building. That’s my choice for today, young lady. Surprised? Shocked that Nana isn’t the creature of habit you thought she was?’
Damon piped up. ‘Nana wants to see the History of Black Photographers.  I heard about it at our school. They got cool black cowboy pictures. Isn’t that right, Nana?’
‘And much, much more,’ said Nana. ‘You’ll see, Damon. You’ll be proud and amazed, and maybe stimulated to take a few more photographs than you do. You too, Jannie. And Alex as well. Nobody takes pictures in this family except me.’
So we went to the Arts and Industries Building first and it was very good, as it always is. Inside, the dull roar of air-conditioning and the cries of a gospel album mixed nicely. We saw the black cowboys, and also a lot of exceptional photos from the Harlem Renaissance.  We stood in front of a twelve-foot photo of ambitious-looking black men in suits, ties and top hats taken from a bird’s eye view. A stunning shot that would be hard to forget.
‘If I saw that scene on the street,’ Jannie said,/! would definitely take the picture.’
After Arts and Industries we appeased Jannie and returned to the Einstein Planetarium, where we wat............