Night at the Museum

We had a "Night at the Museum."



Not quite as exciting or messy as what's-his-name-had in the movie.

But we definitely had one of those experiences where history was brought to life.
I am desperately trying to think of a way to tell ya why we were there ***lol*** without using the word lecture.
Hmmmmm. think.think.think.

I'll have to get back to this. chuckle.

*****

I grew up in the suburbs of D.C. and have been going to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
since I was a wee little kid.



For years I thought that it was the "Aaron" Space Museum!

One of the very best parts of that place was getting to watch the IMAX movies!
Oh.my. My heart would pound, it was soooo exciting!
( I didn't grow up with TV, so any moving picture had us all looking like we didn't get out much!
We would be glued to the lineup of TV's just walking past 'em in Sears at the mall.)

IMAX was over the top. Dad would often purchase the double feature. Mom would get dizzy and close her eyes. I would feel half sick ~ and love it ~  at the twists and turns that oh.my.word. made ya feel like you were right there flying the plane. Unbelievable. We would proudly introduce out-of-town-friends to the WOW! of such an experience, like we kinda owned a piece of it or something, living close by and all.

And I will never, ever forget Pachelbel's Canon in D at the museum.

That's right. Most people associate that classical piece with weddings or something all ro-man-tical.
Not me. To this very day, everytime I hear that song I feel like a kid again.
A big, warm, fuzzy childhood memory that takes me straight to a flip down seat in the
IMAX theater at the museum.

See. They would always play Pachelbel's Canon in D as we waited for the movie to begin. We would watch as little arrows flashed on the screen with the words, "please move to the center of the row", with excited anticipation.  The Baroque era notes became the strings that tied it all together in the memory part of my little kid head.



The other night we attended an exciting lecture multimedia event and talk given by
Robert A. "Bob" Hoover at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.



Bob is a "fighter, military, and civilian test and air show pilot of legendary proportions. Using his superb piloting skills to fly aircraft to the edge of their performance capabilities, Hoover has left an indelible mark in aviation history. During his Air Force and North American Aviation careers, he flew 58 combat missions ( and as a WWII POW flew himself to freedom), served as backup pilot on the Bell X-1 and tested a wide array of fighter aircraft...[He] flew aerobatic routines...at more than 2,500 civilian and military air shows."

He shared the most amazing stories about his career and some of the pilots he has known including Orville Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin.


We all listened attentively---NOT!



Seriously. How many just turned five year old boys, love lectures multimedia events and talks???
There were only about 3 other kids (all of them teenagers) in the entire audience besides the family
that The Farmer and His Wife always take along.

I only became nervous when Jacob began to entertain himself by coughing loudly.
By coughing loudly, I mean something that sounded potentially projectile, like from a nursing-home-resident.

Then he crunched loudly on breath mints.
By crunching loudly on breath mints, I mean that it sounded like a large rodent gnawing on garbage under our seats.

Yes. Under our seats.
That's where, bless-his-little-heart, he finally fell asleep.

The only other stress was, that the person who "scusemepardonme-scusemepardonme" past our knees and toes to sit on my left, waft-ed the worst b.o. that I have ever been trapped next to on this planet.

Ever.

And you can count on The Farmer and His Wife for maturity with that kind of thing.

  



But one of the best parts?

Just as we entered the IMAX theater where the talk was to be held,
I heard the first notes of Pachelbel's Canon in D begin to play...

And I was a kid again.
Heart pounding.
Excitedly anticipating.
Ready to embark on the most amazing experience with my family.

It was an extra dollop of sweet frosting, on my "National Share Your Favorite Songs" piece of memory cake.

It was the kind of delicious that made my throat tight and my eyes blink real fast.

As I walked up the steps to our seats,

I thought about
another generation of kids,
my kids,making memories
just where I did
with the same music.