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Nature Notes: Butterfly Gardens

monarch migration sign at butterfly garden in Washington, DC
As soon as we entered this small, two pathway long butterfly garden in Washington, DC, I thought of Rambling Woods and Nature Notes. How pretty were all the flowers in the garden!

butterfly garden in Washington, DC
The butterfly garden is near the National Gallery of Art and next to the Natural History Museum; both are on the National Mall.

butterfly bush
Despite all the butterfly-attracting flowers such as butterfly bushes, we didn’t see any butterflies. Perhaps the many people and cars and big, concrete buildings of Washington, DC scared them away?

cardinal flower
I am guessing this lovely red bloom is a cardinal flower.

butterfly at Mount Vernon
On the last day of our vacation we visited Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of President George Washington. There I spotted – a butterfly!

There is a lovely butterfly park in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

For more nature notes:
Nature Notes

West Side Story Reds

West Side Story
My daughter and I had a lot of fun seeing West Side Story on Broadway two weeks ago. We learned from my daughter’s theater camp director that the show was originally going to be called East Side Story and was going to be between the Italians and the Jews. I am so glad that idea got canned (the Puerto Ricans started moving into New York and thus the story line was changed). I can imagine all the complicated issues it would have brought up if it had involved Jews, such as intermarriage.

Anyway, the now classic story with the Sharks and the Jets featured fabulous dancers and lovely costumes. The Sharks (Puerto Ricans) wore bright purple costumes, in contrast with the more muted, natural colors of the Jets. My favorite actress was Natalie Cortez who played Anita. I loved when she gave a piece of her mind to the members of the Jets who were picking on her in a nasty way.

Box Office Open for West Side Story
Have you seen West Side Story, either as a play or the movie? What were your reactions?

For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit:
Ruby Tuesday

US Holocaust Museum

U.S. Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C.
My husband and I talked about how the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. differs from Yad Vashem in Israel. While Yad Vashem is set up as a memorial, my husband offered, the U.S. Holocaust Museum is presented as a way to teach about the Holocaust and about genocide in general. I highly recommend anyone visiting Washington, DC to visit the museum.

U.S. Holocaust Museum from above
This shot was taken from the top of the Washington Monument, looking down on the museum. There is an exhibit in the museum called “The Story of Daniel.” It is billed as being for children; I walked through it before I took my eight-year-old daughter, and I thought, this isn’t that scary. However, when I took my daughter, I felt differently. I could feel her fear and discomfort. She said she liked one of the early parts of the exhibit, a scene that showed a kitchen where Daniel, his sister and his mother baked cookies and a fancy cake, to be her favorite part. Perhaps because life was still normal for Daniel. His sister and mother were later killed at Auschwitz. The exhibit showed how bit by bit he was no longer allowed to swim in the municipal pool or even play in the park because he was a Jew. “Did you ever get blamed for something you didn’t do?” the exhibit asked. “We were.”

The exhibit showed little of the concentration camp; it mostly said it was horrible, horrible. One woman asked her friend how did the men (Daniel and his father survived Auschwitz) survive if the women did not? I offered that perhaps the men were taken to work, whereas the women were taken immediately to the crematorium. It was interesting to engage others that I had just met in a discussion. One mentioned the movie “Life is Beautiful,” and I suggested “Schindler’s List.”

Isaiah You Are My Witnesses
As this wall states, everyone who comes to the museum can be a witness to the atrocity and tragedy of the Holocaust.

genocide
I would have liked to have seen this exhibit or presentation: “From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide.” The museum staff, however, said that presentation was not happening the day of our visit. We also saw an exhibit on Nazi propaganda. A woman said to one of the museum staffers: “Don’t you think we live in an age of propaganda?” I am not sure what she meant, but I think we live in an age of information overload. What do you think?

If you are interested in kosher food in Washington, D.C., there are four packaged foods at the Holocaust cafe: tuna on a white roll, sesame noodles, salad, and beans and brown rice in a wrap. I thought the beans/rice in wrap delicious, the sesame noodles tasty, and my middle son was willing to eat the roll of the tuna sandwich (my husband ate the tuna). My eldest son refused all the food. He preferred Eli’s Restaurant.

We did not get a chance to see all the exhibits at the museum; I thought my daughter had had enough, and my eldest son was hungry. So we will have to see more on a future visit. If you have been to the museum, I would love to hear your feedback on what you found effective and well-presented.

Agriculture Arches in Washington, DC

arches at Department of Agriculture
These arches are part of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. This shot was taken from 14th SW Street, close to the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

agriculture arch
This shot is taken from the opposite end (12th SW Street). The arches are one block away from the National Mall.

Washington D.C. could use some pedestrian bridges, with all the traffic and the many pedestrians. But nothing this big for pedestrians, please.

For more bridges, visit the Sunday Bridge Series:
bay bridge
Update: more on the bridges between the buildings on Wikipedia

Smithsonian Garden

flowers at Smithsonian garden
We just came back from 4+ days in Washington, DC. I took many photos…I have some of the Washington Monument that are especially fun. I plan to do a post about our visit to the U.S. Holocaust Museum. I also have photos from our trip to Broadway the week before, to see West Side Story. On our last day we went to Mount Vernon, Virginia, the home of George Washington.

This is a pretty Smithsonian garden near the Air and Space Museum. Across the way is a butterfly garden (I have pictures of that, too).

Thank Heaven – SOOC

thank heaven for little girls
“Thank heaven…for little girls…” – this is a scene from Gigi, which was performed at the Middlesex County College Theater Camp that my daughter attended. The director of the camp introduced the song by saying, “remember the name Michael Mills.” He is the adorable boy in front of those teenage girls singing the song that was originally performed by Maurice Chevalier.

For more photos straight out of the camera, visit Murrieta:
Straight Out of the Camera Sunday