The other day I spent 40 minutes watching a butterfly ‘nursery’. A few butterflies had partially emerged from their chrysalises. Some were dangling from their empty former home, occasionally flapping their tiny, awkwardly-shaped wings. Others, already looking like proper butterflies, rested or tried out their long new tongues,* curling and uncurling them repeatedly. The most […]
Outings
Butterflies at the Canadian Museum of Nature
We when walked into the butterfly exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature we were immediately surrounded by enormous blue butterflies. They and others fluttered busily around and between us, fragile miracles heedless of danger. Brilliantly colored, they were everywhere, feeding on fruit, resting on greenery or windowsills, terrifying babies with their enormous size […]
Medieval Europe: Power and Splendor
Those two words, ‘medieval Europe’, conjure up images of splendor and power, knights and castles, monasteries and missionaries, plague and privation. Recently, however, when we visited the Medieval Europe Exhibition at the Canadian Museum of History, I came away with a completely different feeling. Among the armour, jewellery, tapestry, and everyday utensils, many artifacts pointed […]