Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Mesazoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 1: 'Dem Bones

 Let us return to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Histoary and continue our adventure into the planet's distant past.   To set the stage: The meteor has landed killing off nearly all life on Earth and ending the reign of the Dinosaurs...or, at least that is how this play ends.  It begins just before that fateful event 66 million years ago and walks us once again back in time to 252,000,000 years prior and the previous great extinction event that led to the rise of the Dinosaurs.  Ergo, this is the story of the Dinosaurs.  The largest creatures ever to walk the terrestrial biomes across 190,000,000 years of evolution and techtonic change.  

A Cerapod skull being explored by a duckbill dinosaur in a manner suggesting a conversation!  

A Stegosaurus looking back at a smaller theropod that's just experienced the full wrath of the Stego's spike tail!

Two of the multitude of mid-sized to smaller therapodal herbavores.

This Allosaurus makes a meal of the old Triceratops.

My, what a long neck you have Ms. Diplodocus Longus!

A striking pose from a ginormous Crocodillian reptile that reminds us how the reptiles were also around during this time and some were just as amazing!

My Gamble: The Senate

 While I got a delightful 67% return on my modest investment in 6 House races, my roll of the dice in the Senate was even more successful!  With amounts ranging from $5 to $80, distributed one time or many times, over the same mid-May to mid-October time frame; I netted 90% on investments in 10 races!  The total amount came in at $438 dollars.  Still modest by any super pact's war chest.  And here's the thing that I absolutely revel in.  I spent $438.00 dollars and got 9 Senators.  Elon Musk spent $474,000,000.00 and got Bupkiss!  I know, it's kinda like he lost a penny in the upholstery of his Tesla compared to my sacrifice.  But still, I find it an exemplary concept in Democracy: Rich or Poor...or making ends meet...we all only get one vote.  And that's what is truly priceless.  

Oh, and Angie.  We live to fight again on another day!

My Gamble: The House

 I live in a state where everyone is Blue.  My Representative is one of the most recognized in the Entire Congress.  No, he's NOT Nancy Pelosi!  Therefore when I make contributions to political candidates, they are not from my state.  This cycle I made a series of small donations to six candidates running for the house.  None of them seemed to have a solid chance of winning, but none were so far outside of the realm of possibility that they were a lost cause either.  I'm not a member of the Qowat Milat, nor am I even a Romulan.  And I'm not made of money, so honestly, the grand total of all my contributions combined over the five month period from mid-May through mid-October was scarcely $120.00.  No one made their nut off of me!  Which is exactly how it ought to be.  Mine is just a drop in the bucket, and I, like them, count on a plethora of strangers to also add their "drops".  That's how Democracy is supposed to work.

The results of my drops, based on preliminary returns: 4 victories, 2 defeats...

SAM FORSTAG, won his open-seat in Montana's First District by 7,155 votes out of the approximately 254,660 votes cast.

MANNY RUTINEL, won his seat in Colorado's Eighth District by defeating the Republican incumbent by 33,168 votes out of the approximately 239,603 votes cast.

MITCHELL BERMAN, won his seat in Wisconsin's First District by defeating the Republican incumbent by 11,954 votes out of the approximately 305,724 votes cast.

ZACH DEMBO, won his open-seat in Kentucky's Six District by 24,748 votes out of the approximately 263,354 votes cast.

CHRIS GALLANT, lost his bid to unseat an incumbent Republican in New York's First District by 6,677 votes out of the approximately 298,415 votes cast; however, there are still about a possible 22,500  mail in and provisional votes to be counted, so the outcome of this race has yet to be officially called.

and

JASON PEARSON, lost his bid to take an open-seat in Tennessee's Ninth District by 2,539 votes out of the approximately 225,614 votes cast.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 3: Diorama Dino-mite!

 With all of its incredible modern design elements and multi-level viewing opportunities, its hands on brass models, and life-like staging of reconstructed skeletons, even with the infor graphics and audio-video opportunities; at the end of the day, it is the "old school" diorama that calls to me like the Siren's song!  Still a mainstay of book reports and science projects, the diorama demands our attention, and then rewards us according to our patience--at least the good ones do!  Because the good ones are made by people who understand their power to delight.  A power that is enhanced by every single little unexpected detail and "hidden" component.   These Diorama are set into oval portals--sci fi perfect time transporters that hold two powers simultaneously.  One gives you a glimpse of a lost world, and the other sparks a memory from your childhood.  

I will cluster them according to their titles.

"A Warmer, Wetter World"

Trapped in mud, the Mammoth bellows in fear and frustration.

The exquisite details of leaves and ferns and a turtle for the keen eyed visitor.

"A Colder and Drier Time"

The pack of Dire Wolves Chooses a "light" meal.

An ancient cousin to the modern wolverine brings dinner to her young.

Had you not followed their gaze, the well camouflaged prehistoric rabbit might have gone unnoticed.

"Grasslands Far And Wide"

Ancestors of Modern Horses race across the hillock catching the attention of a Baluchitherium, one of the largest land mammals of the Miocene Epoch.

What hoe?  Another turtle!

Dinohyus were not really pigs nor were they dogs.  They were their own thing, and now they're gone.

"Jungles Rise With The Mammals"

This diorama was oriented vertically to take you high into the arboreal world.

On the forest floor a mother Uintatherium and her calf forage with a...wait for it..turtle! looks on.

Looking up we see the mighty trees' limbs are home to arboreal mammals with prehensile-tails, the forbears of the Primates.

So beautifully crafted that it's hard to tell exactly where the 2-D background and the 3-D foreground meet!  A Diatryma calls out while a little 'herd' of Eohippus traverses the bed of ferns.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 2: Set In Stone

 Not a long act in this first play, but one I still find fascinating.  In my rock garden I have beautifully worn field stones from Kentucky that I gathered myself containing the segmented steams of some long extinct plant that thrives in oceans so long ago that life had yet to evolve its way onto the dry land.  Only a couple, but so cool.

A cousin of a present day Monitor Lizard

I find it really interesting that the assumption of the paleontologists is that the animal's body floated out onto a lake and sank...  It feels more like an animal caught in a flood and buried quickly, before it had the chance to decay.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 1: 'Dem Bones

 There are three things that I love when I go to Natural History Museums to see Prehistoric artifacts.  #1 Bones!  The reassembling and therefore reanimating of long death fauna fascinates me to no end.  When you enter the Hall of Fossils from the Great rotunda, you will start your journey from the recent past and work your way backward toward the beginning of life.

The first grand discovery is a gloriously rebuilt Mammoth.

Nearby a menacing Saber-toothed Cat

And Ancient Deer

Mid-sized Equine Ancestor

One of the first Equine Ancestors the size of a Doberman.

Prehistoric Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus

Dire Wolves persue an ancient Antelope, distant cousin to today's Pronghorns.  This exhibit was literally tucked behind one featuring a Giant Ground Sloth which really blocked full access to it--so poorly thought-out in a space that seemed otherwise brilliantly designed.

Ancient Seal and Penguine relatives that dwarf their contemporary progeny.  

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: Introduction

 

After an early morning, semi-annual bloodletting with my flabotomyst of the visit (It's always somebody new), I made an executive decision to toss all my plans for the day aside and visit stuff on The National Mall.  Afterall, it was a lovely, temperate Autumn day.  While on the cusp of the most important election of my lifetime, things weren't Nazi Germany crazy just yet.  So why not visit my favorite spots before all Hell might....that is MIGHT...break loose?

After riding the Green Line down from Hyattsville Station to Navy Memorial, and engaging in a 12 minute walk, I began my tour at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Unbeknownst to me there was also a special exhibition on the recovery of the American Bison from the brink of extinction.  Complete with two life-sized bronze statues brought out from the deep dark bowels of the Smithsonian Institutions insanely large collection of artifacts.

Here the mother and calf on the right side of the entrance.

Inside is the four story atrium with its iconic "world's" largest African Elephant taxidermy.

And to the right is the Fossil Hall where the history of LIFE on Planet earth unfolds.

Buckle up, Buttercup--some really cool stuff awaits us!