Music, Mammals, & Masterpieces

My next Sweet Adeline visit was to Arundelair Chorus (http://arundelairchorus.org/) in Annapolis, MD, under the direction of my friend, Maggie Butts, who I met last year when visiting another chorus in the area. Besides directing this wonderful group of women and running a business from home, she sings bass with the 6th Place International Quartet, CAPRI…this is one busy woman!

Throughout the month of January, choruses around the world held Open Houses so women everywhere could experience what it’s like to sing with Sweet Adelines, and it just so happened that Arundelair was holding theirs that night. After joining in physical and vocal warm-ups, the chorus welcomed us with a song, and then Maggie took us guests out into the hall to work on a couple of tags (the last couple lines of a song) that she hadn’t even taught the chorus yet. After showing the chorus what we had learned, we joined them on the risers, learning and singing right along producing some wonderful sounds.
At the end of the night a drawing was held, and one lucky guest earned the title of “Arundelair Idol” and won a CAPRI CD, and I was the lucky winner!! What a fun evening with a warm welcoming group of women. So, ladies, if you’re interested in checking out a chorus in your area, go to the Sweet Adelines International website (http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/) and click on Find A Chorus. It’s not your granny’s barbershop anymore…it’s real women…real harmony…real fun!

Snow arrived once again but still only about an inch though this time it stuck on the ground (but not the roads) for a couple of days. Abby had a blast running and playing, and Russ even threw a little snowball for her. I was calling her a snow dog, and she just thought this was the greatest fun! Mikey, on the other hand, just hung out with me looking more like he’d rather be inside since it was too cold to lie down outside. Little did we know that it was to be his last day on earth.

A few days later we visited Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (www.mnh.si.edu/), which contains 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space with more than 126 million natural science specimens and cultural artifacts…that’s a lot to try and see! Out front are a couple pieces of petrified wood dating back 200 million years, and as you walk into the main building, you’re greeted by the largest mounted African elephant specimen, nicknamed Henry, that measures over 13 ft. at the shoulder and weighs nearly 12 tons.

We walked through Hall of Mammals featuring 274 mammal specimens and nearly a dozen fossils. Mammals from all over the world are represented (both past and present), and exhibits explain how they’ve adapted to the various climates. Most of the specimens are in natural poses within their native environments, like these lions trying to take down a water buffalo. Fossil exhibits help explain the evolution of some of these mammals over time like the giraffe vertebrae. As with all things Smithsonian, it’s all very educational.

While in the Hall of Mammals, one of the museum volunteers told us that the Butterfly Pavilion (http://www.butterflies.si.edu/) on the 2nd floor was free to the public on Tuesdays (which this was). Normally there is a $6 charge per person, but all we had to do was go to the front desk and get a free timed-entry ticket. The Pavilion is not very big, but visitors can walk through this tropical oasis of flowers and plants as hundreds of live butterflies flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, rest on walls and ledges, and fly overhead sometimes even landing on a visitor. (Before leaving, there’s a mirrored outer room for you to check and make sure none of the darling little critters try to hitchhike out on your clothing.) There are a quite a variety of butterflies from all over the world, but one particularly beautiful blue one would never light long enough with opened wings to get a decent photo. See, the blue is only on the top side of its wings so only visible when it’s flying (and it flies fast!). Otherwise when resting, its wings are together displaying a mottled brown color. I love butterflies so found it fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable though I’m not sure it’s worth the $6 admission price, but today it was free and well worth the money!









Our main objective on this day was actually a visit to the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum (http://americanart.si.edu/edu/) and the National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.si.edu/), but since they didn’t open until 11:30, we had decided to start at the Natural History museum for about an hour. The two museums are a nice leisurely walk about ¼ mile north and share a National Historic Landmark building, the old U.S. Patent Building, stretching two city blocks.

The American Art Museum houses more than 41,000 pieces of artwork, the largest collection of American Art in the world. The collection “captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people throughout three centuries”. The National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through individuals who have shaped its culture. Each floor is divided in half, one side being the Art Museum and the other being the Portrait Gallery, and switch sides from floor to floor, a little bit confusing initially. Both sides offer a variety of art in various styles ranging from painting to sculpture to photography and are broken out into sections by either time period or like subjects such as America’s Presidents and 20th Century Americans (the Oscars belonged to Katherine Hepburn whose portrait hangs behind).









One interesting piece is called “Men of Progress”, an 1862 painting that was conceived in the artist’s mind. The 19 men pictured never appeared in the same room together, and in fact posed individually by the artist, Christian Schussele. They were some of the most distinguished inventors in American history…names like Goodyear, McCormick, Morse, and Howe just to name a few. A beautiful and very imaginative piece.

We ventured upstairs to the Luce Foundation Center for American Art (http://americanart.si.edu/luce/), which occupies 20,400 square feet on the third and fourth floors of the building displaying more than 3,300 objects in secure glass cases. We were starting to get a little tired and hungry so only walked part way around one of the floors, and this shot is from the craft and folk art section.

As we made our way back to the car, we walked through the outdoor plaza of the United States Navy Memorial (http://www.navymemorial.org/) that features a “Granite Sea” map of the world laid out on the ground, towering masts with signal flags, fountain pools, bronze relief panels, and a bronze statue known as The Lone Sailor. It seems to be a peaceful place to relax, reflect, meet up with friends, or simply enjoy a quiet lunch outdoors.










Just as we reached the Natural History building, we spotted several people pointing up into one of the trees. There perched high on a limb was a red-tailed hawk keeping a watchful eye on its nest in the tree behind. What a beautiful sight!

One last thing I keep forgetting to mention is that we’ve accepted a hosting position back at Mammoth Campground in Yellowstone National Park! We’ll start May 18 and work until some time after Labor Day so if you’re in the area, be sure to stop by and see us!