Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Story Behind the Photo, edition four


From the Field Museum of Chicago. 

I hadn't been the this museum since the first time King Tut's artifacts toured the United States. (That's a really long time ago. Disco was in style and I was years from a drivers license) I love history, always have, and my parents knew what it meant to me so on a blustery February morning, my mother, her friend, and I perched on the steps of the Field Museum of Chicago. With the cold seeping from the granite steps to my young butt, we waited with a hundred other history buffs. There was no internet, no advance tickets. If you wanted to see King Tut, you got in line and waited for the museum to open. Even that was no guarantee of access to Tut's treasures. The hall was severely limited to a small number of visitors per day. I seem to remember something about humidity being the cause. It was fantastic, but to be honest, the details are fuzzy.  

Fast forward decades to December 2015. The hubs and I decide it's time to hit the mega-city again, and this time, I want to do the museum. We spent two days wandering around that massive building. We even worked out way through Egypt which still models Tut's tomb. I could share dozens of photos, but this one caught my eye just now. It's a water buffalo. I chose it because one of the live events was a naturalist handing antlers or horns to people. He handed us an antelope skull and began to explain the difference between antlers and horns. Horns are sheaths that have a bone core. They are permanent features while antlers are shed. (the water buffalo has horns). All this while dozens of school kids screamed as they raced between halls.

On this visit, my I was enthralled by the dinosaurs and mastodons, minerals and China. Even with two days, we barely brushed the dust from the surface of the Field Museum of Chicago. If I lived closer, I would be there frequently and it would still take me a year to really see it all. By that time, they would have rotated out the displays. I hope Chicago continues to appreciate this jewel along the shores of Lake Michigan. I will return, and this time, it won't take so long.

Photos are precious time capsules. Thanks for allowing me to share this historic weekend.

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