The Redpath

I recently discovered the Redpath Museum, by way of a wonderful octogenarian who volunteers at the library where I work and who also volunteers at the museum. I don't know why it never occurred to me to ferret out a natural history museum here, when they are always huge favourites of mine, but then again I am part hermit.

A couple of weekends ago I finally had a chance to visit and I loved it. So much to see and soak up, I really just did a survey for future visits. As far as museums go, the Redpath isn't huge (although the collection is still impressive), and we managed to see it in under three hours, although we did not read all of the accompanying signs... or very many of them at all actually, so busy just admiring the artifacts. Anyway, as it was snowing on that Sunday (Snowing. In May. I'll just let that sink in.) going to a museum was a perfect afternoon outing.  

The building itself is worth the visit, honestly. The front part is behind scaffolding at the moment, but once you are inside, you are wrapped up in the 19th century. Perfect creaky wooden floors, molding on the walls and ceilings... the carved posts, the railings, the display cases, the old wobbly imperfect glass. Gorgeous!

You may not even notice the backdrop though, the collection is pretty captivating. 

The foyer has a perfect undersea diorama, with sea snails, cephalopods and cridnoids. It is showing the Ordovician period, waaaaay back when Montreal was submerged and tropical (which was nearly half a billion years ago).

Other foyer highlights included a giant clam (GIANT), a giant crab (even GIANTER) and a small case for their "Montreal: Ville de Verre" exhibit, which was a few (really neat) specimens made of glass. 

The first floor also has a "Back to the Sea" hallway (it truly is a little hallway) with a little mix of old and new.That's a juvenile mink whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling, and the skeletons of a leather back turtle and a seal on the wall. That giant thing that looks like part of a ship is actually part of a whale skull (I forget which kind). On the wall opposite was an icthyosaur fossil.  

Next you go up to the second floor, which is a treasury of shells and minerals, displayed in glass & wood cases, in a beautiful, bright room.

Which is lovely, but hard to concentrate on, because you keep seeing glimpses of this guy through the doorway, into the next room: 

That room is Dawson Gallery, and it is the money room. It's got all the dinosaurs and a lot of stuffed/taxidermy-ed specimens and a guy called Bruno giving impromptu tours.

One of my favourite things was this Irish Elk skull (not Irish, or an elk, really... taxonomists are so zany) but it is a bit hard to make them out in the photo. Also very cool: suspended from the (high! blue! Versaille-ish!) ceiling was an origami pteranodon. 

Next you go up a flight of stairs, passing an unlikely trio: 

(I totally need to tell you that I knew what kind of gorilla that was from across the room. 

Me: "Hmmm. That looks like a mountain gorilla. A young silverback I would guess."

Adrien: "Right, whatever. It's a gorilla. Look over here at this cool thing!"

Me: "No, it's not a lowland gorilla, they're more gracile and the hair is shorter. It's definitely Gorilla beringei beringei."

Adrien: "Hey, I think there's something neat over there..."

Me: (checking little card) "I knew it! An adolescent male mountain gorilla!"

Adrien: *rolls eyes*

I haven't been in university for thousands of years for nothing!)

Finally you go up to the top floor, the mezzanine or balcony, which houses their ethnology collection. Again, it was small, but really neat. They had real mummies, ancient Grecian coins, a Buddha statue, Samurai armour, musical instruments from Africa and a few other treasures. 

I am definitely going to have to go back. It makes me wish I had paid more attention to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, which we used to go to for class field trips all the time but which I didn't appreciate nearly as much then as I would now. I do remember learning about bioluminescence there though... I guess something sunk in. I'm obviously going to have to go back there too.

* The first image, of the outside of the museum, is from wikipedia, the rest are all from the McGill/Redpath website and are credited to Virginie Millien, Torsten Bernhardt, K. Dobbin.

Snail City

Two Snails by Jacek Yerka

Snail House by rorylanelutter

Snail City found here (I don't know if that is the artist or not)

Considering the series of misadventures I've been through of late (nothing serious, just allergic reactions, the flu, a chest cold, generalized grumpiness) I'm in a great mood this week. Could be that my shoulders are lighter as these calamities finally scatter and leave me be. Could be that a good friend just had a baby boy! Could be that I am watching the mailbox for some books that are coming to me from several little shops in the UK. Could be that it is SPRING! here in Montreal. I know that the west coast is being showered with cherry blossoms but most Montreal Marchs are snow-covered. This one is April-like in its snowlessness. And I am glad. I am a fairweather friend to snow (no pun intended), loving it in November, hating it by February. Actually, no. That's a lie. I still like snow, even in the darkest February days. What I hate is sleet, ice chips hitting my face, bitter cold wind and skating rink sidewalks. But those are worries now cast aside until NEXT winter! Can you believe it? I can't. I'm tempted to go all doom-and-global-warming-gloom but I won't. I will put away my heavy coat and sigh with relief instead.

Things I have recently been enjoying:

• Castles in the Air ~ all about living in and restoring a crumbling castle in Wales, so far quite funny and charming. Also, I see from the website that after restoring it, they made it into a bed & breakfast of sorts. I am so tempted to go. Alissa, I would recomend that you check it out next time you swing through the UK, except that you have chateau ennui. ; ) 
• Old episodes of Da Vinci's Inquest. He's such a quirky trouble-maker.
• Homemade yogurt. Not homemade by me! A certain handsome housemate of mine has taken up this hobby and I just get to sit back and reap the creamy benefits. My favourite is getting to open a new jar and take the first, almost frothy, scoop. (Apparently the process is quite easy. Perhaps, if he is reading, he will post the instructions in a comment for the curious).
• Miss Endicott ~ A serendipitous find at the library. A comic about a young woman who is a governess by day and a solver-of-problems by night. The description claims that it is steampunk, which it may yet be, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Even without steam or punk, it is already pretty awesome.
• David Sedaris on audiobook. Recommended for those who do not mind laughing like loons on public transport. Also, makes the workday zip past.

Summer Lights

1. Star Lanterns, 2. lanterns, 3. garden lantern, 4. Lantern, 5. Summer evening, 6. Paper Lantern, 7. Paper lantern, 8. Lantern at Dusk, 9. Purple lantern, 10. Snail Lantern, 11. Five lanterns, 12. colourful lanterns, 13. Lanterns for sale, Chinatown

Season of the Snail

I don't know anything about this book, but what an intriguing title!

Soft Snail Sculpture. I like Etsy.

Um... who doesn't want a Cranky Snail Skirt?

Season of the Friendly Snail, here. (Google image search).

Hedgehog riding a snail... from my favourite, the Black Apple.

Snail tape dispenser Made By Humans.

I have this in yellow/orange... but dang, the green/blue is cute too!

This is called "Diver Sprout", by Scott Campbell, the same talented guy who did those extra neat cut-away illustrations from a few posts ago.

A snail-ish mascot, found here.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: (almost) too pretty to eat! Look at those littly feet! The green swirly icing! The fur on the caterpillar's back! Quite sweet.

Found at Cake Wrecks (this was obviously not considered a "wreck"), originated at CocoCakeCupcakes. Check out her other work too, there is a Where the Wild Things Are cake, and some crazy cute Miyazaki-themed cupcakes!

Ickle and Lardee's grand adventure (meeting with a snail).

Inner City Snail

How cute is that? I've liked the Little People street art project for a while, but I just discovered that the same artist also makes the "Inner City Snail: a slow-moving street art project". I love it!

A snail's pace

I love these late summer evenings, all buttery breezes and endless skies. I am digging in to the anticipation of autumn, which is my true favourite time of year, but I can still whole heartedly appreciate the resplendent summery now.
I am (once again) looking forward to school, which starts in a few short weeks. It is hard to believe that even after all these many years of study I can still feel excited about the prospect of new text books, lectures, papers and the messy stress of it all. But I do.
School is so familiar, and I have ample evidence that it is a place where I can succeed. But it is also challenging, and I know well how very much there still is to learn. I sometimes feel that I am a terrible slowpoke at "life", and that I am somehow not passing the stages I am meant to pass at the appropriate times. I sometimes wonder how on earth I can still be doing this whole university thing at my age. But then other times I can't help but chuckle a bit at it all (and myself) and think that I am doing just fine. I am obviously doing things at my own pace, in my own way. If I truly wanted to be doing something else, to be somewhere else, then I believe that I would be over there doing it. It is clear that some core part of my self simply refuses to be rushed by anyone, least of all me. As much as this trait sometimes frustrates me, I also have a grudging respect for it. It forces me to pay attention.

I have learned so much and I have been witness to so many mysteries unraveling right in my palms. How could I possibly ever want to change the path I've walked? Were a djinn to pop out of my teapot tonight and offer to do so, I would never ask him to alter my past. Even though it might also erase my mountainous debt and possibly return me to a thinner (healthier?) body it would mean that I would not be me anymore. And I like me. I feel a great deal of pressure from "out there" to try harder to get my act together. I sometimes believe that I would be happier with just a bit more money and a bit less girth. Even though I know how tied into the mass hysteria version of how things should be those messages are, they still seduce me with their fairy tales. I don't watch tv (it is in the closet, unplugged and dusty). I don't read magazines. I am fairly selective about what I read and/or download online. The only radio I listen to is cbc. I shop only very rarely. And yet those nasty messages still find me. So sneaky.
I just wish I could hold onto that certainty that I am marching to my own snail-drummer. There are panels of judges and critics that sit in my head and send out constant streams of negative feedback. As I said, there are times when I can laugh at them. When I can turn them into the two old geezers on the muppet show who complained all the time from the balcony, and I can brush off their bile with confidence. I can say: this life I am living is great! I have made fantastic choices, albeit unconventional, and I am thrilled to be this Christine. Other times though, it is much harder to silence them.

snail photo by my brother