Museums and a Surprise Vistor!

Every Thursday evening in Ottawa, between the hours of 4pm and 8pm (although it’s 5pm-8pm for the Art and Nature museums) there is free admission to the general public to all of the museums. Lewis and I only last an hour or two each visit so we have made this a Thursday night tradition. We’ve been to the Museum of Civilization twice now and the National Art Museum once. Both of these museums are walking distance from our apartment. The Museum of Civilization is 1km away (located on the river on the Gatineau side) and the Art Museum is 2km (just across the Alexandra bridge). 

These places are generally very quiet as people walk from sign to sign and stare at the artifacts so you can see how a roaring dragon would be poo poo’d. I also have found the acoustics are very good in most rooms, especially when they have vaulted ceilings. I am starting to think Little Dragon likes to hear himself sing. What a character!

Overall, we have done pretty good as I have found the Snugli is a very effective coping mechanism for his growls.( NOTE: Dragons do not like to be contained unless it consists of snuggling.)

The Museum of Civilization has a lot of Canadian artifacts. They have a few Aboriginal exhibits. One featuring West Coast tribes gigantic totem poles. (NOTE: vaulted ceilings). Another one has a lot of late 1800 and early 1900 items such as a carved canoe, traditional head dresses and ritual clothing. And lastly, there is an Aboriginal exhibit that displays pots, tools they would have used, and highlights the lives of more modern, famous Native Canadians (namely, the first one that was drafted into the NHL. I forget his name... Ask my Dad, he'd probably know). 

Another exhibit that we very, very briefly checked out was called "Face-to-Face" which features some 30 remarkable Canadians and they rotate the people every so often. It was kind of disturbing to be greeted by a life size John A. MacDonald when getting off the elevator. He had some wild hair! I wanted to put my hands threw it, but alas there are security guards (and cameras) everywhere.

My very, very, very favorite is The Children’s Museum, which is tucked away in the Museum of Civilization. It is truly magical. Little Dragon doesn’t appreciate it yet but he will in a year or two. It’s all about hands-on learning as you get to visit different countries and walk in their various housing structures and climb aboard many types of transportation. 

They even have a theatre! Upon entering there is a ticket booth and easy access to backstage. A large closet behind the stage contains costumes and a giant mirror with large bright lights to check yourself out. The costumes follow a nature theme varying from an owl, the moon, a sun, clouds, a flower, etc. I thought of my childhood and how us neighbor kids loved making up skits. I also thought of my buddy Tolley!   

An Owl costume for Rachel.

 The feature exhibit at the Museum of Civilization (which is over now) is the Mayans. They had on loan from the Princeton Museum lots of neat things that the Mayan people used for various rituals. I really liked viewing their hieroglyphics. Apparently they didn't start interpreting these bad boys until the 1950s. It was once assumed each character represented a word, however, upon further research they discovered that some actually mean just a syllable. I think I would be too impatient to be able to specialize in this! How confusing!

A clay pot. Presumably a spider monkey that is hoarding cocoa beans. I thought it was funny, possibly because every time I hear "Spider monkey" I think of Taladaga Nights.

 

This is a clay figurine of a singer or entertainer that visited.

         This is supposed to be the face of death but it looks more like a face Little Dragon gives me when he's hungry.

So I don’t know if you have ever gone to a city for a vacation or moved somewhere else and have seen 

some one and thought, “Man, that sure looks like Sally/Freddie from my hometown or place I used to live.” I have these experiences quite often. 

On Thursday, Little Dragon and I were walking across the Alexandra bridge, which we do quite often to go to the Art museum. It was awesome Fall weather outside and we were very happy to be out of the apartment. After we crossed the bridge we saw a lady that looked like Sonja Hoag. I thought I was possibly having one of my post-pregnancy hallucination moments until Sonja called out my name. So neat! Talk about perfect timing. We also caught her when returning home later that night and made a tentative arrangement for a date later that weekend. 

The ceiling of the National Art Gallery. When driving by outside those triangular shaped things look like teepee. Well, to me at least.

Sonja’s sister, Erin, is married to my brother Alan. They have a baby named Jimmy. Sonja is one of the cleverest, most out-spoken (but in the best way possibly), spunky people I know. She has a kind heart and is the type of gal who is up for anything, both excellent qualities to have in a friend. When I first moved to Edmonton from Lethbridge back in 2007 she was one of the first people who introduced herself to me and I remember just watching her (not in a creepy way) at a party and thinking, “This girl is kinda awesome” and also holding in my bladder because I was laughing so hard at the jokes she was cracking. 

Sonja has been Lewis and I’s first official visitor from the motherland. She just didn’t even know it. She had been attending a nurse’s conference and was headed to the Museum of Civilization with her nurse buddies. So glad I caught her! It’s crazy how things work out in life. I actually was going to go to the museum earlier with a friend but then she couldn’t go (her hubby, who is also in Law School was actually going to be home for dinner so I completely understand the ditch out.. Oh, the life of us Law School Widows). It was fate. 

Saturday, Sonja and I (and don’t forget Little Dragon) were able to hang out in the Ottawa mist. We were able to see a bunch of people, of course dressed like zombies, dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller outside of the Art museum. Right underneath the spider to be precise. We thought it was some kind of radio promotion, which is correct, but when I investigated this further later that day on my computer I found out that it was a worldwide event for flash mobs to gather and beat the world record for the number of people dancing the Thriller dance at the same time. I guess that’s why they had a registration table. It all makes a little more sense now! I wish I took a picture of it. There were some pretty intense dancers. 

After they finished the dance they had one of the zombie ladies sing Michael Jackson “Man in the Mirror”. She was really into it and I almost thought I was on American, sorry, Canadian Idol. Bryan Mulroney stepped out afterwards and thanked her for her singing. Just kidding he wasn’t there, physically, but I bet his spirit was present. Sonja started singing beside me and waving her arms in the air. I encouraged her to steal the mic from the zombie. She was tempted but I think she was scared of getting fake blood on her nice white rain jacket. Good times! Little Dragon slept for most of this. I will tell him of this story when he is older. 

After we cried in our hearts and waved our lighters in the air we headed to the Byward Market (which I try to get to at least once a week) and I bought some yummy plums and pears. I must admit that I have an obsession with pears lately. They are soo delicious in spinach salads. Right across the street from the vendors tents is the ever-so-Ottawa, Beavertail stand. Lots of people have told me since arriving at Ottawa “You have got to get a Beavertail! You just gotta!” So Sonja and I shared a chocolate one. They are very good in a bad sort of way. Definitely not healthy as basically if you have ever been to a fairground, they are elephant ears but instead of the ear shape they are suppose to resemble our beloved national animal’s flat tail.

Then it was off to the Rideau centre to wander around a bit, but mostly to empty out Little Dragon and then fill him back up again. This is presently the joy and bane of my existence. 

I don't know who is cuter!?

We were indeed surprised and thrilled to see a familiar face and hope to see more in the coming months. I guess, pretty much if you are planning a trip to Ottawa, better tell us now or we will hunt down and find you! Wah ha ha ha ha!!! Ahem...