I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon

This is what the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann is supposed to have wired to the King of Greece after finding this mask at Mycenae.

It's still referred to as the Mask of Agamemnon, even though it's from the 16th century BC, at least 300-400 years before the Trojan War. (And there's no proof that a king by that name ever existed outside of mythology.)

This mask in the museum at Mycenae is a replica—the orginal is in Athens—but I didn't care. I loved reading about archaeology when I was a kid—Howard Carter and King Tut's tomb, Sir Arthur Evans and Knossos, Heinrich Schliemann and Troy and Mycenae. Having a chance to gaze upon that face myself gave me goosebumps.

Urban poetry

 

This is Patience, one of the two lions guarding the New York Public Library building on Fifth Avenue. (His good pal Fortitude, not pictured, is just to his left.)

The lions, like most New Yorkers, have been wearing masks since the spring, but now they're promoting civic engagement along with good pandemic hygiene.

Plus a pigeon.

Life in the time of coronavirus

 I'm trying to cram in all of my doctor's appointments during this lull of nice weather and not-yet-fully-resurgent virus. And because I don't want to get on a bus or even into an Uber unless I absolutely have to, I had two very long walks yesterday, to the East Side and back.

It was probably the longest I've been outside since the lockdown began in March and it was wonderful to be just walking the streets of New York again. I was amused to see that the ever-enterprising street vendors are now selling masks with designer names along with the cheap sunglasses and knockoff handbags.