Mom & Dad are in town. They look great, and seem totally relaxed and happy. We've had just one day together and have already done quite a lot.

They met me at my office at noon and we walked down to the Wintergarden at the World Financial Center because they wanted to see the models and plans for the World Trade Center site. We had lunch there and walked along the Hudson. It was a lovely warm spring day for strolling. We walked miles--including completely circling the WTC site, which is more interesting every day. You can see the path of Greenwich Street running right through the middle of the site. Downtown will be much more open and integrated once that street is restored to its pre-WTC path. We also checked out the temporary PATH station (that's "Port Authority Trans-Hudson" station). It's a strange, large, open, minimalist expanse of concrete and nice huge color duotone images of downtown New York.

Tonight we went to New York City Ballet for an all-Balanchine evening of absolute sublimity. Walpurgisnacht Ballet was first. Kyra Nichols is still great. I must have a mental block against this ballet for some reason. I've seen it many times, but I can never remember it until the curtain goes up. For my own memory, it's the one where at the end all the girls in the ballet (maybe 30 dancers) let their hair down and whip it all over the stage in a sexy frenzy. It's wild and wonderful. Gounod's music is all controlled charm.

The second ballet was first described to me, by my friend Aidan, as "the greatest ballet of the 20th century." Then when I saw it I thought, "Hmmm. He's right!" It is amazing to me how Balanchine could put so much beauty into one simple long leg slowly swinging from behind the body to in front of it. This ballet does indeed reach the heights of perfection--because the choreography has such authority in the way it becomes part of Brahms's music. And the costumes (Karinska) are structured--as long skirts for the girls--to show the movement of the leg without showing the leg itself. Brilliant.

The last ballet was Bizet's Symphony in C, which Balanchine choreographed for Paris Opera Ballet. Nothing is more glittery, more "up," or more exciting. In the last movement, there's a moment when all the boys clear the stage and the girls line the perimeter of the stage, shifting their arms in unison, with their feet in furious motion, and it's so thrilling it is hard to not gasp or call out with excitement. My friend Benjamin danced the third movement--and beautifully.

After dinner we headed down to Landmarc. Penny came with us and Paula met us there, so we had a nice group. I had mussels in dijonnaise sauce--wonderful, but not as wonderful as the white wine sauce I had last time. Then I had quail on a bed of mushrooms, pancetta, and tomatoes. Delicious. While I ate, I secretly re-lived the last time I ate quail, which was on a romantic date in a snowstorm in 1996. But that's another story. We shared all the desserts. And while I like and can appreciate flavored ices, I love and live for creme brulee.