This afternoon, I had a wonderful time at the SF Asian Art Museum with my friends Walt, Ginny, and Lily. Because I have a contributing level membership, I'm able to take up to 3 adults with me free of charge every time I go. The big plus of doing so is the companionship of friends who are interested in the museum and Asian art. One thing I haven't worked out though is how to keep myself from having to see the same pieces over and over again, or at least in the same cursory, overview fashion. Next time, I might go by myself in the morning and meet friends for lunch and an afternoon jaunt through the galleries.

Not that I can't benefit from such repeated surveys of the core collection -- as I learned today. When the four of us arrived at the upper floor where the suggested sequence begins, a docent by the name of Mabel was guiding a group of two museum visitors. Lily and I joined in, though we were a bit shy since it wasn't totally clear why the tour was for and who was included. I'm very glad that we fell in with the tour, as apparently were the dozens of folks who congregated along the way.

I learned quite a bit about every piece that Mabel talked us through -- and I was amazed that I could have missed such basic and interesting things in previous visits. I have been reading the tags, used the audio-video equipment, borrowed books to do background reading -- and have seen many of the pieces four, five, or six times already. But it wasn't until our enthusiastic, knowledgeable, engaging docent pointed what in retrospect seems to be obvious, that a lot of the pieces and connections among pieces came alive.

So the next time I visit the AAM, I'll tag along with a docent. I hope to find another tour led by Mabel or one of her equally qualified colleagues.