THREE HOURS

FRIDAY 
7.11.2014
The Museum of Natural History 
NY, NY

Inside, a dinosaur stretches upward toward the lights

At the Rose center, in the Hall of the Universe

We learn that star clusters sometimes collide
(meet my friend 'Archangel') 

Travel along the cosmic timeline as we wind our way along the circular path down down through time

The light of stars takes billions of years to reach us, and when it does, we are seeing into our past

The mystery remains unknown:

Human existence equals a single hair

Thirteen billion years since the 'Big Bang'

Tides come and go

Our earth contains minerals

Strata of materials tell time

and show processes that transform elements from one form to another

Wood to stone

Solidified carbon

Liquid fire

Gems

like this garnet peppered stone

and this

and this

Obsidian on the upper left

At the center of the hall we sit in a sunken circle on slate shelves looking up to watch  earth form and withdraw in an endless loop

Emerging, we wandered outside

under shedding plane trees

where a few sunflower seeds on this bright day are enough to draw a willing flock of rock doves

~The End For Now~

Note
We spent three hours and only made it to the Hall of the Universe, and the Hall of  Earth.  Mind you, our visit was not thorough.  There is so much to see and learn amidst the many interactive displays just in these two halls.  We never made it to the Hall of Biodiversity, and my cameras memory card was full within the first two hours because I forgot to empty it before leaving home.  I took no notes.

Have a look around for yourself:
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions