Washington, DC Trip: Dinosaurs in the Museum of Natural History (Plus a Moai and Giant Gem)

Recently we went to Washington, DC to see the Christmas Trees and stopped by my favorite places- the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History! Since I first visited in the 1980s, I was captivated by the Dinosaur exhibit there.   Although we live within 20 miles of it, we haven't been there for years - and it has been totally updated!!  Today's blog will provide a few photos of the newly upgraded Dinosaur exhibit - including where oil comes from, amazing fossils and dinosaur extinction. -  Before we reached it, though we saw one of the giant heads from Easter Island, and a massive Quartz from Arkansas called the Berns Quartz.

NOTE: They've also added a full display explaining how the 7.5 mile in diameter asteroid that impacted the Gulf of Mexico at the end of the Cretaceous period helped cause the mass worldwide extinction of the dinosaurs. It features a great short film with archaeologists, climatologists and other scientists.

 I was like a kid in a candy store!! -  We didn't have a lot of time, so we'll go back, but this is the best-ever exhibit!!!- Rob 

BELOW: Entrance to the Dinosaur Exhibit! 

BELOW: A giant prehistoric plesiosaur that roamed ancient oceans. Look how big it is compared to the people standing in front of it! 

Fossil Skeleton of a Stegosaurus!

An Exhibit of Where Oil Comes from - This was a fascinating exhibit. I didn't know that ancient plankton is responsible for the development of oil deposits. Here's the exhibit. 

Below: The massive Quartz from Arkansas called the Berns Quartz

WHAT IS THE BERNS QUARTZ? - At 7 feet tall and more than 8,000 pounds in weight, the Berns Quartz is among the largest examples of quartz specimens on display in any museum in America. It took a team of experts to prepare the display in the front gallery, adjacent to the museum’s historic north entrance.

  

EASTER ISLAND MOAI (STONE FIGURE HEADS ) -Thousands of massive stone monuments, known as Moai, preside over Easter Island. The way they were carved, using only stone tools, seems unfathomable.  They are are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500.

  The production and transportation of the more than 900 statues is considered a remarkable creative and physical feat. The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighed 82 tonnes (80.7 tons)

From: SECRETS: Eastern Island http://bit.ly/1veg4yr

VIDEO: How the heads were carved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8PyKKkDIzI&t=3s

Day Trip: Washington, DC: Holiday Decorated Hotel Lobbies

 Yesterday we took you on a tour of the National and State Christmas Trees on the Ellipse in front of the White House. While Tom, me and Jeff were in Washington, DC we decided we would check out some of the hotel lobbies in the city because they also decorate elaborately!  Here are photos from those lobbies of the Willard Hotel and the JW Marriott).  Jeff and I stopped for a quick pic on Pennsylvania Avenue with the Capitol behind us.  **We also stopped by the Famous Ford's Theatre (where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated).  Of course, we also worked in a Dunkin' Donuts coffee and iced tea break! 

(Photo in the Willard Hotel, Washington, DC)  

(Rob and Jeff on Pennsylvania Avenue with the Capitol in the far distance!)

BELOW: Photos of Ford's Theatre and the house where President Lincoln passed away. 

Day Trip: Washington DC - National and State Christmas Trees

 On Friday, December 24th, Tom and I and our friend Jeff ventured into Washington, DC via Metro (Subway) to check out the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in front of the White House. 

What a difference a year makes!!  The tree is beautiful and is surrounded by a fenced in, self-guided area through smaller trees for each state. Each state contributed to decorations made by a school in the state, and depict things unique to the state or something famous in the state. We took photos of several of them, which you will find in today's blog.

PRESIDENT'S PARK RESTORED TO NORMAL!  -  As a side note, the park behind the White House no longer has a chain-linked fence keeping people out as it did during the dictator's (Trump) rule. Gone are the signs protesting that awful nightmare, and all of the trash. The park is restored to its full beauty. People once again can walk freely and openly without worry of being attacked by right-wing nuts. What a huge, huge difference - a return to peace and sanity!   (ABOUT PRESIDENT'S PARK: President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the White House Visitor Center; Lafayette Square; and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square.)

 Now, On with the Christmas trees!

When Were Ghost Stories Part of Christmas, Where?

 Although Andy Williams' "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" Christmas song talks about telling "scary ghost stories" at Christmas, Americans don't do that. But people in Victorian England did!  That's where the tradition started. Sadly, Americans were more skeptical about the existence of ghosts (yes, they exist), so it never caught on. But here's the background of the origin of them in England, according to History.com:  

 ( Image: Winslow Homer. Christmas—Gathering Evergreens and The Christmas-Tree. 1858. Wood engraving on paper, published by published by Harper’s Weekly. The Art Institute of Chicago.)

How Ghost Stories Became a Christmas Tradition in Victorian England 

Spooky stories featuring the supernatural were all the rage during the darkest time of the year. 

ELIZABETH YUKO, History.com

 

Towards the end of each year, as fireplaces are lit and hot cocoa is made, Americans have made it a tradition to revisit their favorite classic holiday books, movies and songs. And though ghost stories may seem out of place in present-day American holiday celebrations, they were once a Christmas staple, reaching their peak of popularity in Victorian England. 

 

A Dark, Spooky Time of Year Like most longstanding cultural customs, the precise origin of telling ghost stories at the end of the year is unknown, largely because it began as an oral tradition without written records. But, according to Sara Cleto, a folklorist specializing in British literature and co-founder of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, the season around winter solstice, has been one of transition and change. “For a very, very, very long time, [the season] has provoked oral stories about spooky things in many different countries and cultures all over the world,” she says. 

(A Victorian Era Haunting: Credit: https://www.culturenorthernireland.org/) 

Furthermore, spooky storytelling gave people something to do during the long, dark evenings before electricity. “The long midwinter nights meant folks had to stop working early, and they spent their leisure hours huddled close to the fire,” says Tara Moore, an assistant professor of English at Elizabethtown College, author of Victorian Christmas in Print, and editor of The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. “Plus, you didn’t need to be literate to retell the local ghost story.” 

Effects of the Industrialization Revolution It was in Victorian England that telling supernatural tales at the end of the year—specifically, during the Christmas season—went from an oral tradition to a timely trend. This was in part due to the development of the steam-powered printing press during the Industrial Revolution that made the written word more widely available. 

 MORE: https://www.history.com/news/christmas-tradition-ghost-stories

About The Christmas Legend of Krampus

Both St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) and Krampus originated in Europe. Everyone knows Santa Claus, but you may not know Krampus. He's a hafl-man, half-goat who assisted St. Nicholas and scared bad children. Here's the story: 

(Krampus – whose name is derived from the Old High German word krampen, which means “claw” – is said to be the son of Hel, the god of the underworld in Norse mythology.)

WHO IS KRAMPUS AROUND CHRISTMASTIME? 

Every year in early December, children in Austria get ready for St. Nicholas to visit them. If they’ve been good, he’ll reward them with presents and treats. But if they’ve been bad, they’ll get a lot more than a lump of coal—they’ll have to face Krampus.

Who’s Krampus, you ask? He’s the half-man, half-goat who comes around every year to chase naughty children and maybe even drag them to hell. European versions of St. Nicholas have long had scary counterparts like Belsnickle and Knecht Ruprecht who dole out punishment. Krampus is one such character who comes from folklore in Austria’s Alpine region, where he’s been frightening children and amusing adults for hundreds of years.

Krampus and St. Nick’s other bad boys have their origins in pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. Krampus – whose name is derived from the Old High German word krampen, which means “claw” – is said to be the son of Hel, the god of the underworld in Norse mythology. .Krampus carries a basket or a sack, a set of shackles, a whip and a bundle of branches for the purpose of swatting naughty children. Sometimes alongside Saint Nick and sometimes solo, Krampus visits the local homes and businesses, handing out lumps of coal and birch bundles – a sobering reminder of the dire results of being naughty. 

Later, they became part of Christian traditions in which St. Nicholas visited children to reward them on December 5 or 6.  Around that time, his menacing partner would also visit kids to punish them. In Alpine Austria and some parts of Germany, this day was known as Krampusnacht, or “Krampus night,” when adults might dress up as Krampus to frighten children at their homes.

Children might have also seen Krampus running through the street during a Krampuslauf—literally, a “Krampus run.” If Krampusnacht was a way to scare kids into behaving themselves, the Krampuslauf, which isn’t tied to a specific day, was a way for grown men to blow off steam while probably still scaring kids. Austrian men would get drunk and run through the streets dressed as the fearsome creature. Like Krampusnacht, the Krampuslauf tradition continues to the present day.

The introduction of mass visual media couldn’t help but sweep the charismatic Krampus up in its wave. When the postcard industry experienced a boom in Germany and Austria in the 1890s, it opened the way for Krampuskarten.

These holiday cards weren’t mean to make you feel warm and fuzzy. Ones marked “Gruss vom Krampus” (“Greetings from Krampus”) showed Krampus stuffing a distressed child into his satchel or preparing to hit one with his bundle of birch sticks. Many of these postcards depicted Krampus going after children with his sticks, leading them away in chains, or carrying them off in his bag.

Sources: History.com; and: https://www.chinadailyhk.com/articles/67/175/165/1576747407195.html

Happy Christmas from our house to yours!

 Wishing you and your family and friends a happy Christmastime from our house to yours. The first pic is our holiday card. Then there are pics from the season (getting a tree with our friend Dave, decorating our house, Tyler and Dash at the Christmas Tree and a special holiday dinner with the fully vaccinated Paranormal Group - because none of us want to be investigating any of those on the other side!