Here is
a different state of being
where a morning cobweb becomes a fairy handkerchief
where I can lie against sand and stone
Face the rim of the globe
Feel waves wash over me
and crisp breezes refresh my skin
Listen to children's laughter like blowing bells
Watch dogs race the beach with numb joy
Know "freezing quiet" (Anne says)
Smell the spices of the season
(it is early spring now)
I awaken
by the ocean
in a cabin
gazing seaward
To A Cabin II
Margaretta K. Mitchell
The museums in DC are so inspiring. It makes me want to curate my own exhibit when I get home. I asked the kids if they wanted to make a small museum in our house and they said, Noooo! But I suspect if I just start on my own, they'll hop on board.
I can't decide if this will be a virtual museum or a real one. Maybe a little bit of both.
I have noticed a trend in some museums toward flash with minimal content. Not so here. The exhibits were sometimes flashy, but so deep as well.
They all start with a pithy title like:
If you can't make it to DC, try the book Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland (Exceptional Social Studies Titles for Intermediate Grades)
It was especially interesting to us since we had just visited Jamestown.
When you read about The Starving Time at Jamestown and see the graves it tells the story the usual way.
But when you see, in Written in Bone, the piles of horse, dog, cat and rat bones the colonists butchered and ate, it tells the story in a more intimate way.
My favorite part of the exhibit was where they identified colonists' occupations just by examining the bones.
Tailor's notches: chipping of the teeth and characteristic grooves made from holding needles in the teeth identify the owner of this jaw as a tailor.
The Library of Congress is making a huge push to digitize its collection and make it available to the public. On their website you can sign up for myloc.gov and make your own collection of books and documents housed at the LoC.
The National Park Service is going multimedia, too. They have virtual tours. I liked the flipbook documenting the construction of the Lincoln Memorial.
If you get inspired to curate your own exhibit, please share it with us and put a link in the comments section.
5 comments:
I've been waiting for you to post--wondering what you and your girls have been doing in the kitchen, but now I see--you've been out in the most spectacular scenery on the Pacific instead. Lovely photos and your new header is exquisite.
Oh, I can feel the wind, and the sun, and surf coming through in this lovely post. From the land of ten-foot-snow banks, thanks for the breath of fresh air!
Kristin, boy have we not been in the kitchen! I hardly remember my home. Hope to see you soon!
Karen, we've finally gotten some "winter" weather here--rain and hail, but what a glorious week we spent on the coast in February. I was so glad to find that poem on the cabin wall because then I didn't have to try to express it myself. The last day the kids found many sand dollars on the beach. I have rarely felt so rich.
What a stunning place and your photos are fantastic as always, wow!
Boy would I love to rent that place sometime!!
Hope to catch up with you sometime in the next month...
(Howie's pizza was amazing!)
Stunning photos of a stunning place, Susan!!!
Would love to go there someday...!
Looking forward to catching up with you in person again.
(Howie's Pizza was amazing)
-td
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