RandomThink.net

First, a quick aside: I’m really going to try and post more. Really. Anyhow, with that out of the way, let’s move on.

A couple of weeks ago, I got word that the Explora museum adult night would be talking about going green. Lisa has been excited about such things, so when I found out, I told her to save Friday night, but I didn’t say why.

Then, a few days after that, she tells me that she’s excited about attending a rally to support preservation of the Mexican Gray Wolf, called Dia de Los Lobos. It happens to be the same night as the Explora event, and even right in the middle of it, time-wise. So, I tell her what the Explora night is about and we determine that we can make both events.

We got to the Kimo theater a little before 7pm, and picked up much literature about the Mexican gray wolf. We then listened to a gentleman (Dave Parsons, I believe) present the history of the wolf. As usual, Wikipedia presents it better than I could. It’s really quite the sad situation. His portion of the night ended with a rather large group howl, which reminded me a lot of my college days (after all, the Mexican gray wolf is UNM’s mascot, the lobo). I’m glad we went to that portion.

We then headed over to Explora, where we met up with a few friends to enjoy the night. In case you are unaware, Explora is basically a big interactive museum with tons of fun exhibits. Generally, I’ve only been while taking our nephew, where we’re watching him run about and enjoy things amongst the tons of other little kids. It’s fun, but I’m a big kid at heart and I generally don’t get the time I’d like with the exhibits because we’re doing that whole responsible adult thing and watching our nephew.

Adult Night at Explora was awesome. Mind you, I still didn’t get the time I’d have liked with some exhibits, although this time it’s because I was trying to be social and not just ignore Lisa and our friends while I fiddled with the frequency of a speaker or wiring up light bulbs to batteries.

We ended our time at Explora by the large bubble table, which is effectively a big shallow tub of soapy water and bubble wands. Synchronized bubbles were awesome. We then stepped outside, where several astronomy buffs had set up telescopes. We all got to look through a couple of telescopes and see Saturn with our own eyes (and the power of amazing magnification). I’ve seen Saturn’s photo several times, and probably seen the speck of light with my naked eye, but to be able to see the planet, including the rings and the shadow that the rings cast on the planet, well, it was simple awe-inspiring. It was a great way to end the night at Explora.

After that, we went to Flying Star and had frosty chocolate milkshakes - at least, Lisa and I had milkshakes. I think they made us sick later, which stinks, but at the time it was incredibly tasty and a great nightcap.

Tune in next time, where I blab yet more about beards, because that’s all that’s been on my mind lately, it seems.