Art in Bloom


We got out early today, at least for us, and visited the Slammer, also-known-as the art museum. We were trying to catch this year’s Art in Bloom. We took advantage of the early members only hours, and attempted to beat the crowd of unwashed masses that always comes out for this event. This festival is the museum’s biggest draw of the year. It started after hours on Thursday with a special hoity-toity dinner for only the real (read rich) art connoisseurs, it then devolved to the level of us common sewers and then to the aforementioned unwashed masses. I think that I got that hierarchy right. The problem with being a common sewer is that there are too many of us. The old Groucho Marx line, “I would never join a club that would have me as a member,” aptly applies here.

Each year, thirty museum artworks are randomly paired with local florists, who are tasked to create a flower arrangement that somehow captures its paired artwork. Pictured is one such florist, her creation and the inspirational art behind it. Anne asked her what about this painting inspired her. She said that it was its texture, and this caused her to choose densely petaled flowers for her flower arrangement. We saw about half of the arrangements before our time was up and the museum that is dedicated to art, became free to all once again. 

Animals Aglow


Yesterday, we went to the zoo. The weather was beautiful and midweek the zoo was not too crowded. My going in goal was to see the new Komodo dragon. The last one died some years ago and the zoo is slated to get a new one from the Bronx Zoo. Alas, the dragon is not due here until this fall. They are still building its enclosure in the historic reptile house. I was surprised to see the installation underway for the upcoming lantern festival, Animals Aglow. It looks like it will be spectacular. I’ve included a few pics of some of the larger pieces.

Although, I enjoyed seeing the dragon lanterns outside the reptile house, the best part of our visit to this house was a conversation with a zookeeper and docent. In the building’s basement are rooms where they warehouse many of the species that are displayed publicly. They do this so that the displayed individuals can be rotated in-and-out. Among the downstairs rooms is a locked room where all of the venomous species are kept. Over its door is a red light that when lit indicates do not enter, because something bad has happened. Think Snakes on a Plane. The docent added that when she visited that room, she stuck to the middle of its narrow aisle, sandwiched between walls of open-air wire cages and when an overhead lightbulb’s string pull brushed the back of her head, she lost it.

The zookeeper we were speaking with will be one of the two people charged with driving to NYC to pick up the dragon. I hope that he drives carefully and is not pulled over. Can you imagine the cop’s surprise when he opens the back of their truck? We also learned that the zoo’s most valuable asset is housed in this building, the zoo’s antivenom collection for the myriads of poisonous animals. Hearing all of this, I am glad that they have closed the downstairs restrooms.

Next, we visited the small primate house where we found many distressed small human primates upset the canopy trail’s playground was closed. A few of the other primates made it outside. One was furiously trying to disassemble part of the trail so that it could escape. We spent the rest of the afternoon outside, viewing the big cats and the herbivores of red rock country. We closed the zoo. 

Komodo Dragon Lantern

Looking Forward to Spring

Coneflower

It is January. There are no natural flowers blooming now. Hothouse flowers do not count. Still, after weeks of below freezing weather, we enjoyed a thaw today. Nothing record-breaking, but significant after so much cold. We got out and walked in the park, on its east side. We explored all of the work done last year around Jefferson Lake. New bridges, a new boardwalk and what looks like it will be a new waterfall, are all part of this project. It is almost done, with work finishing up now. A lot of mud in the near future, long term it should be nice.