The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is so much more than a kid's museum. Four levels (plus a lower level) of exhibits are connected by a central winding path, inviting the children to run higher and higher to discover things in the museum.

One of the highlights this summer is an exhibit featuring the James Cameron movie Avatar. Kids lined up to be filmed as an Avatar in a movie scene, and to use state-of-the-art cameras and technology in the same ways the filmmakers did. There are actual costumes, robots and machines from the movie. You can stand in the Avatar's shoes for a photo op. The shoes are gigantic, so this was great fun.

Pictured above is a common street vehicle used in Egypt, part of the 'Take me There' Egypt exhibit. A screen in the street car show you how scary and tight the traffic is on the streets. In other sections of this feature, kids can put on clothing items, sit in replicas of Egyptian homes, make jewelry, play instruments, and interact in all sorts of ways.

On level three was one of my favorite exhibits - The Power of Children. It features the story of Ryan White, the young man from Indiana who was infected with AIDS from a blood transfusion and discriminated against. It has his actual toys, posters, clothes, etc. from his bedroom. It has lockers from his school, and shows how other kids and parents were afraid of him. The story of Anne Frank and her life hiding from Nazis in Holland was wonderfully done. It's amazing the Jewish folks hid in that building annex for a year and a half. Her diary, discovered on the floor after the Nazis took them away, was saved by a worker and eventually published: the world eventually knew her story.

Ruby Bridges, the little African American girl who was the first to be integrated into a public school classroom, is also represented in this wonderful exhibit. Kids get the opportunity to see how their small voices can actually change the world, one child at a time. They learn they too, can make a difference.

There's a great ScienceWorks display on the fourth floor, with a freshwater pond, rock climbing wall, and an interactive watershed table. Also don't miss the National Geographic Treasures of the Earth on the lower level, where kids can help uncover three archaeological sites including an Egyptian pharaoh, China's terra cotta warriors, and a Caribbean shipwreck.

Children's Museum - 3000 N Meridian Street, Indianapolis IN 46208. 10 a.m - 5 p.m. Some evenings open later. $13.50 for youth; $18.50 for ages 18 & older. Discounts for seniors and museum membership.

Easy road trip to Indy Zoo

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is excellent for its size, but Indy is a bigger city. No wonder it seems as though the Indianapolis Zoo is a step up - and we had a great experience visiting it this week.

One measure of a zoo is the display of the larger species. The Indy Zoo does not disappoint. I'm not ashamed to say I love the exhibits of the African elephants (perhaps my favorite animal) and the highly endangered white rhinos. Make sure you don't miss the new baby elephant if you make the trip this year. The rhinos were taking mud baths on this 90-degree day and didn't look all that happy, but who or what would be? But what am I thinking - a charging rhinoceros in a zoo wouldn't be a good idea anyway.

It's easy to get a good photo op in this zoo, and that's what so many people are all about these days. Clean, clear plexiglas and glass cage fronts - you can pose your kids and grand kids in front of the tigers, walrus, sea lions, penquins, dolphins, and more. One can find lots of opportunities to make memories to keep forever.

There are lots of good hands-on experiences in this zoo. There's a huge shark touch tank with tons of room for people to stand around and get close to the sharks. The walls are nice and low, and yes, you can reach in and touch the backs of these gentle, small sharks as they cruise by. They have huge eyes and aren't aggressive, although it appears it takes a while for many of the smaller children to work up the courage to give it a try.

The kids (maybe grown ups too) will also love a hands-on experience feeding birds. There's an aviary with budgies for which one can purchase a 'food stick'. There is another aviary for which you can procure a cup of lorikeet food. If hungry enough, the birds will alight on you hand, arm or shoulder for an up-close feeding experience.

To have a great time at this zoo, I would recommend buying the unlimited ride pass bracelet. $10 for adults, $6 for kids - you can ride the roller coaster or train as many times as you wish, see the 4-D Ice Age movie without charge, and feed the animals (not the giraffes though). We definitely got our money's worth out of that purchase.

The shows are good at this zoo also. The dolphin show was entertaining, not too long, with opportunites for audience interaction. The dolphins can play beach ball with the audience, dance(?) yes! and can catapult out of the water to touch buoys suspended from the ceiling.

The dog show was good too. The different breeds of dogs were hurdling over high jumps, among other tricks they did. I got a kick out of it, and being dogs, they didn't look 'forced'; you knew they were having fun.

I talked about the big animals, but sometimes it's the little things that mean the most in life. A close-up encounter with a meerkat, such as the one in the photo above, can be a life-changing experience. After a moment commiserating together, you begin to think feelings, emotions, a ponderance of the world and our place in it is not a human-only experience. To see a giant bat, so scary and suspended from a ceiling, looking like a vampire - and then to watch it unfold into a flying fox, big-eyed and curious, crawling towards a piece of fruit - these moments can be transcendent.

Indianapolis Zoo: parking $6. Ages 2 - 12: $10 online price, $12 at the gate. Adults: $15 online, $17 at the gate. 62+ reduced fee. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Thursday. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Friday - Sunday. 1200 W. Washington, Indianapolis, IN 46222. Food & drink is pricy: be prepared with cash or credit cards, or bring your own to eat in the picnic areas outside.

Summer at the Lake

Yes, it's been awhile since I have written a blog post. Since the last one, I had taken a new job working for an online writing service. Alas, I had been seduced by the assumption I would be able to do more article writing; quickly I learned I would be assigned to updating an online product catalog. That was ok for awhile and was a good technical learning experience, but not a good long term plan for me.

 After that I got an excellent job offer for a position that was more suited to me, but then had to turn it down because of some emergencies in my family. It was a strange spring, with challenges mounting up over and over again; a time of anxiety, just having to put one foot in front of another, a time to just keep breathing and surviving.

I haven't had as much support over the years with a couple of my problems as I have needed. I'm not programmed to be good at asking for help, either. I'm trying to fix that though. I am doing better now, regardless - and I looked at the calendar and it's what - July? Too much time has passed.

One thing that is wonderful, though, is the reality in which I have access to a summer getaway place. It makes it possible to rest, and to enjoy peace and quiet. No sounds of city noises; excited birds chirping become the sounds that awaken me. It's often we hear the twang of big bullfrogs and the booms of summer thunderstorms.

We are bombarded with information, social media, and the rush of our modern, consumer-driven society. We have forgotten how to lead simple lives. Our kids spend hours on the Internet and are shuttled to and from games and sports workouts. We work harder and harder to please stockholders we don't know. It feels blasphemous to even say these things.

Yet it's so restorative to watch the changing moods of the sun, the wind, the water. There's nothing like experiencing the phases that each entity takes as the clouds and sun move across the sky. One can almost feel as well as hear the sounds of a freight train at a distance in the humid air. Young children spring up taller like weeds before our eyes. Wildflowers surprise us in the tall grass. We see insects that perplex us, that we can't quite identify.

One might see a song bird attacking the head of a hawk, or a mink family running across a country beach. To have that kind of beauty in front of one's eyes - it has healing powers that no psychiatrist can replace with a prescription. So here's to summer, and more summer days ahead. I've got some great summer fun planned soon, and I'm going to be blogging about it. It's time.