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River Otters are so my patronus
Aug. 4th, 2011 01:12 amWhen I was a little girl, my mother would take my siblings and me down to the Science Museum what felt like every week or two.
There was a space exhibit there, with random spinny-art pictures of the big bang, and of a black hole (Actually, visiting today and seeing them, I think they just reversed the rotation on the spin with those two pictures, as they're so similar otherwise). It also had a rotating moon that you could touch and feel all the meteorite impact craters, and a few depictions of the relative sizes of the planets, and sundry things.
There was a gorgeous planetarium, with a full-domed ceiling, and we'd normally stay for at least one planetarium showing. (And since the museum had spent all of its money on the building, leaving nothing for visiting exhibits, the planetarium shows were about the only things that changed when you came for repeat visits.)
There were a few other things, I think I remember there was a teeny display about Egyptian mummification processes, and another display of various Plains-Native American artifacts and beadwork.
But mostly, the reason my siblings and I kept returning was for the animals. The museum had arranged some sort of wildlife conservation exchange, taking in animals that had been rescued and cared for so long that they were dependent on humans, and it housed various different individuals from species native to our region of Ohio. There were various birds, a wildcat, some snakes, and a few rodents. But my favorite species present was the river otters.
Most of the time I've been going to the museum, there's been at least two otters playing in their semi-aquatic playspace. And I could sit there and watch them swim and play for hours. They weren't like most of the other animals, who seemed just as content to ignore us as anything else. The otters seemed to think that we were being brought in and rotated through to keep them entertained. They'd come up and paw at the glass next to us, or show off their toys, or just do five laps around the pool complete with twisty-turns just to make sure we were paying attention to them.
My childhood was shaped at least in part by seeing those otters playing with their entire world. It was a constant reminder to actually sit back and enjoy all of the wonders of life, and to not take everything so seriously.
We went to the Science Museum today. They've teamed up with other museums, and there's a lot more money, and a lot more in the way of exhibits. They've brought in more diverse animals into the animal exhibit as well. But my favorite part of it all is still just watching the otters have a blast with life, the universe, and everything.
There was a space exhibit there, with random spinny-art pictures of the big bang, and of a black hole (Actually, visiting today and seeing them, I think they just reversed the rotation on the spin with those two pictures, as they're so similar otherwise). It also had a rotating moon that you could touch and feel all the meteorite impact craters, and a few depictions of the relative sizes of the planets, and sundry things.
There was a gorgeous planetarium, with a full-domed ceiling, and we'd normally stay for at least one planetarium showing. (And since the museum had spent all of its money on the building, leaving nothing for visiting exhibits, the planetarium shows were about the only things that changed when you came for repeat visits.)
There were a few other things, I think I remember there was a teeny display about Egyptian mummification processes, and another display of various Plains-Native American artifacts and beadwork.
But mostly, the reason my siblings and I kept returning was for the animals. The museum had arranged some sort of wildlife conservation exchange, taking in animals that had been rescued and cared for so long that they were dependent on humans, and it housed various different individuals from species native to our region of Ohio. There were various birds, a wildcat, some snakes, and a few rodents. But my favorite species present was the river otters.
Most of the time I've been going to the museum, there's been at least two otters playing in their semi-aquatic playspace. And I could sit there and watch them swim and play for hours. They weren't like most of the other animals, who seemed just as content to ignore us as anything else. The otters seemed to think that we were being brought in and rotated through to keep them entertained. They'd come up and paw at the glass next to us, or show off their toys, or just do five laps around the pool complete with twisty-turns just to make sure we were paying attention to them.
My childhood was shaped at least in part by seeing those otters playing with their entire world. It was a constant reminder to actually sit back and enjoy all of the wonders of life, and to not take everything so seriously.
We went to the Science Museum today. They've teamed up with other museums, and there's a lot more money, and a lot more in the way of exhibits. They've brought in more diverse animals into the animal exhibit as well. But my favorite part of it all is still just watching the otters have a blast with life, the universe, and everything.