Melting snow, polar bears, dinosaurs and mammoths....

 March 21, 2025

What a difference a few days make. The first picture was taken on March 17. The picture below it was taken today. 

 

 

 

On March 16, during the afternoon, there was a thunder storm with a couple of sessions of torrential rain, accentuating the pretty much all day rain. The snow just shrank throughout the day. This was followed with a couple of very sunny, mild, tee-shirt days. I have never seen so much snow disappear so quickly.

The rain did a number on our road up the hill. There are deep, washed out ruts up both sides, leaving a narrow, rough, drive-able section in the middle. The gravel and sand all flushed off into the deep ditches on the sides. We don't expect the township will be doing anything to rectify it until things dry up, as the dips in the road are still muddy and some are flooded.

 We had an appointment in Ottawa early on Thursday, so bought tickets to the Museum of Nature and visited it later in the day. https://nature.ca/en/

 The building itself is beautiful.

The front entrance, impressive...

and once inside, looking up and out of those three arched windows...

was this absolutely beautiful stained glass. I missed taking a picture of the third window, as it wasn't until I looked at the pictures that I realized each panel was different.

Once inside the large square central foyer, one can look up four stories, at a huge inflated balloon of Earth, hung in the centre, and revolving slowly.

In a glassed in, modern extension above it, there is another large balloon depicting the Moon. (In the picture above, taken from the fourth floor gallery, one can see an elevator door in the top right corner to give a size perspective.)

 We enjoyed our visit, particularly the rock and mineral section and all the stuffed birds and mammals. 

Flash pictures are prohibited, so some of the colours are off.
There were a couple of school groups visiting that we periodically crossed paths with as we explored the displays. The volume and exuberance of the kids was rather distracting, making us realize how much we appreciate the peace and quiet we enjoy at home!

There was a section hi-lighting Earth's past, with some impressive dinosaur skeletons, this one a relative of a T-rex. A not so impressive recreation of ancient forests, complete with plastic dinosaurs...

and outside, a life-size Mammoth family. This one the biggest and most intact, as the others had broken tusks....

 

There is still snow in the bush and on north-facing, shaded areas, but the snowshoes have been put away for the summer.

Our wonderful snowy winter is over. 

Hello spring!! 😊