A Day at the Museum of Science and Industry (8/6/09)

Here is my family.  I have a husband, Stan, and two sons, Roscoe (14) and Silas (11).  I took this picture of the screen in the thermal imaging exhibit at MSI.  My guys sure generate a lot of good lookin' heat, don't they?

By the way, I remember it's called thermal imaging because I took a picture of the display text.  That's a trick I use on garden walks--much easier than trying to take notes on the spot!  

Again, these are pictures I took a year ago without this contest in mind.  This is just how I typically go through a museum.  Some pictures are for fun; I may share them on Facebook.  Some pictures are just to satisfy my curiosity or answer a future question I may have about these photos.  And I'm always on the lookout for what I call "calendar shots"--good photos of both my sons which I can use in the yearly calendar I make and give to their grandparents.  Every once in a long while, I organize all my pictures into chronological photo albums with captions.  I designed my last four albums with templates on the website of my photo storage site.

My Calendar Shot

Whenever I go to MSI now, I'm amazed at how much it has changed since I was a kid.  I thought it was the best museum in town then, but--let's face it--there wasn't much to DO.  The interactive element of most exhibits involved picking up a telephone headset and listening to a recording.  All that has has changed!  Throughout the day as we went through the museum, I kept telling my family, "This is NOT your father's museum."  The Great Train Story exhibit  is one example of the many improvements.  Now we can walk through it as well as around it; it seems like we can see more going on in this little world.

We took a tour of the Smart Home on this visit, too.  Again, this is NOT your father's museum!  Who ever thought of building a whole working house and garden into an museum?  Brilliant!  Of course, it lacks an inhabitant, but that problem is going to be solved for one night at least.

Ah, compost! Gardeners' Black Gold.

What a big rain barrel the Smart Home has!  I did not have any rain barrels hooked up at my house when I took this picture, but I'm proud to say I have three 55-gallon ones in place now.  I used them yesterday, in fact.  I DID have the exact same kind of composter as the Smart Home (the black plastic Earth Machine in the back).  And of course I have a garden which, just like the Smart Home's, is now tended by a Master Gardener.  Since my own home sweet home--or at least my sweet garden--is a little like the museum's house, I think I could adjust to living there for a month.

We couldn't take pictures inside the Smart Home, but perhaps I'll be able to take some photos and videos for the museum's blog when I spend the night there. I took lots of pictures outside because I enjoyed the garden so much.  However, I also found myself pointing the camera away from the Smart Home and its enticing garden.  I was delighted to see different views and angles of the museum building itself that I'd never seen before.  And just think of all the new angles and views I'll get on the INSIDE of the museum if I get to live there for 30 days!  Don't worry, folks.  I may have to bring this blog to an end, but if I win the contest I'll be sure to keep you posted--with the museum's blog and media--on everything I find.  You'll all see new views and share the adventure with me!