Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids, Oh My!

Tonight, my friend Mike (some of you may remember Mike as my long-lost buddy from university whom I randomly ran into on 8th Avenue about a month after I moved to NY) invited me to an event at the American Museum of Natural History. The event was hosted by the Junior Council, a philanthropic group of young New Yorkers (aged 22 to 39) who support the museum in its mission to advance scientific research via various fundraising activities.

The Council often hosts specially arranged events that offer an intimate, behind-the-scenes view of various museum collections and exhibitions. Tonight, we got a private viewing of the new "Mythic Creatures" exhibit, along with a great introduction by the exhibit curator, Richard Ellis, and ironically, the Board of Trustees member who happened to introduce Mr. Ellis was none other than the CEO of my company!

The exhibit was really fascinating (both Mike and I remarked that it all felt very Harry Potter-ish) and I kept thinking how interesting it was to have an exhibit all about mythical beings within the museum of natural history, with all its scientific labs buzzing with activity behind the scenes. We learned about a number of new creatures that we'd never heard of before, such as the Bunyip (a bear-like creature), the Kraken (giant sea being who could toss the biggest ships with just the flick of a tentacle), and the Roc (a huge bird-like animal who could pick up elephants in its talons). As fellow Canadians, we were both disappointed that the "water creatures" section of the exhibit gave an obligatory nod to the Loch Ness Monster, but nary a glance to Ogopogo, the mysterious inhabitant of the Okanagan Lake in the interior of British Columbia.

We grabbed a bite to eat around the corner from the museum and for the second week in a row, I got caught in a major downpour trying to get home. Many more episodes like this and I will soon have webbed feet. (Maybe I'll turn into a mythic creature myself! Although webbed feet isn't exactly what I'd ask for as a key physical feature... a head full of snakes or the body of a horse would be far more dramatic.)