Blueberries, Bones and Bunnies

Orchids on display at the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, OH.

Blueberries, Bones and Bunnies: A Groundhog Day Adventure

I unabashedly, unequivocally, and unironically love Groundhog’s Day. I have stated this fact on multiple occasions.  I have written and spoken at length about this seemingly ubiquitous holiday being my favorite holiday of the year. It is, for all intents and purposes, a day of absurdity. On a cold and dark February morning, thousands of people gather to witness a groundhog prognosticate on the future weather. It is so established that these are the accepted events of the day it is easy to read that sentence and think nothing of it, so let me say it again. Thousands of people, not a handful, but thousands of people gather to watch a groundhog (a large rodent) prognosticate (fancy word for predict) the future. That’s absurd, downright insane…and I absolutely love it!

The absurdity is one of the elements that drives me to embrace this holiday so fully. In my previous writing on the subject “I Love Groundhog Day and You Should Too!”, I discussed the benefits of embracing an obscure holiday and making it your own. I stand by this. As time has passed, I have begun to see how my love of the absurd, mixed with a pension for embracing a “follow the moment” attitude can yield amazing results (at least in small one day quantities).

So, you might be asking what did I do on this Groundhog’s Day? Where did my adventures lead me? If I had no plans, then where did I end up? Well, as you might have read in the title it ended up with blueberries, bones, and bunnies.

I slept very little the night before Groundhog Day. Like a small child waiting for Christmas morning, I find it hard to sleep with the joy and anticipation for the absurdity of what is to come. I dreamt of the prognostication. In my dream, I was back at Gobbler’s Knob, close to the Inner Circle. I saw them take Phil out and with discernment they decreed that even though it would be a mild winter, six more weeks were still ahead of us. “A mild winter.” I remember those words clearly. Phil’s actual prognostication would not be too far off from my own dream.

After the ensuing exciting events of the morning, I admittedly went back to sleep. As I said, I slept very little the night before. After I re-awakened, I had a desire for blue. Blueberries to be exact. I haven’t had blueberry pancakes in several years, and they sounded like the perfect brunch for Groundhog’s Day.

 With Murray, my groundhog puppet, in tow, we set off into the world to discover what this Groundhog Day had in store for us. First, blueberry pancakes! Now, there are a variety of restaurants within a short driving distance of my house that serve blueberry pancakes. Did I choose any of these restaurants? No. I don’t know why. I got in the car and for some reason, my feet said “no, not that one.” I eventually found myself at a restaurant that was in no way close to where I live. It’s been some time since I have been to this specific restaurant. I vaguely remembered that service was usually slow. Still, I went in with an open heart and a kind, empathetic soul.

There seemed to be one person who was handling everything short of cooking the food. I was seated quickly in an almost empty restaurant. A large group of women all decided to leave shortly there after and upon getting up decided that they wanted their bill split individually. This poor server did the best that he could. He tried to split their bill and pay them out as fast as he could, but the credit card machine/billing system was giving him more than a bit of trouble. The women became more callous; deriding the man and complaining that it should be done faster. One of the women’s credit card was repeatedly declined, to which she complained and said that it was impossible. After the third attempt, he invited her over to see that it was in fact being declined. These women were venomous. These are not words that I like to use to describe anyone, but sometimes people can be unnecessarily cruel.

The women left and the man collected the signed receipts. As some of you might have anticipated; none of the women had left a tip. He looked broken. I was seated near the kitchen and could hear him expel his frustrations to the cook. A few minutes later, he came out to take my order.

There was not much that I could do. I had decided that no matter the quality of the food, I would leave him a larger tip than normal. I reminded myself to be kind, always say thank you and be a decent human being. This doesn’t seem like it would be hard for people to do, and yet it seems to be so lacking in our current day. The more he interacted with me it became obvious that I was making his day better. We ended up having a conversation on proper ways to make ice tea and how to tell if a batch has gone bad. He even brought me a “to go” tea when he brought my bill without me asking for it. He just figured that I would like one for the road. And he was correct. I don’t know if I really made his day better, but I hope that I did. Kindness. At the end of all things, always choose kindness.

After pancakes, I asked Murray what he would like to do next. Asking a puppet might seem like an absurd thing to do. It’s a puppet, after all. However, if you were to ask many puppeteers they might tell you that sometimes the puppet speaks for itself. It might be a word or a sentence, but some thought that you weren’t thinking will pop in there. If this sounds crazy to you, then you’re probably right. Regardless, when asked, Murray the Groundhog said one word: “Bones.”

Ice Age Bison Skeleton on display at the Museum of Natural History and Science at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

The Museum of Natural History and Science at the Cincinnati Museum Center has many bones on display. I am a sucker for dinosaurs and all things paleontological. You might think taking a groundhog puppet to a Natural History Museum would seem odd and you’d probably be right. Yet, this adventure must continue. Murray and I marveled as we stood underneath the Mesozoic monsters of the past. Huge skeletons that peak my imagination now, just as much as when I was a child. Fun fact: Of the dinosaurs on display at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, none of them are less than 50% actual fossil. The Museum’s towering Galeamopus (a sauropod from the Jurassic Period, similar in shape to the famed Brontosaurus) is over 85% fossil bone.

This trip also provided the opportunity to revisit one of my old stomping grounds, the newly re-opened Ice Age Exhibit. Once a cavalcade of glacial geological facts with a large menagerie of Pleistocene mammalian skeletons, the exhibit has been scaled back to a significant smaller exhibit to allow more room for other different exhibits. I miss seeing the skeletons of the large animals that roamed our native area before the end of the Ice Age. Most of these skeletons now reside on display at the CVG airport across the river.

Mastadon Skeleton at the Museum of Natural History and Science at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Before the conclusion of our museum trip, we found ourselves in the Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery. It was in that gallery that I really appreciated what the Museum had become. I miss how some of the old exhibits were, but this is a different time. Museums need to evolve just like everything else. My interest, scientifically, tend to be in the past. But this exhibit lets kids dream of the future. As one beloved show so eloquently stated weekly that space is the final frontier. Perhaps, one day, someone will engage with this exhibit and truly take us one step closer into the large unknown universe among the stars.

“Bunnies!” Bunnies, I questioned. Why bunnies? “Bunnies!” And with that our Groundhog Day adventure continued to where Bunnies roamed free (well sort of). The Krohn Conservatory is an Art Deco dream built in 1933. The Conservatory contains a variety of different biomes allowing for differing horticultural experiences all under the same green house roof. During the winter months, I usually visit the Krohn almost every week so I can get my needed dose of humidity and green. The central room contains a giant waterfall which is perfect for engagement photos, to which I have been witnessed to on more than one occasion.

Murray in front of the indoor waterfall at the Krohn Conservatory.

The newly opened Spring exhibit, “Bunnies and Blooms” contained at its heart several roaming live bunnies. Sometimes, you never know how much you need a bunny in your life until that moment. The floppy eared rascals ate, played, and slept in luxurious play yards. The two large pens contained everything that a young rabbit would want. An attendant was on hand to ensure that the bunnies were not touched or harassed, just enjoyed performing all their innocent actions.

I have always had an affinity for rabbits. When I was very little, I had a stuffed rabbit that was tragically lost at a dry cleaners. However, my love for rabbits never ceased. One of my great joys is sitting at my computer writing in the Spring and looking out my window to see my local wild rabbits in the back yard munching on dandelion greens and leftover leafy lettuce that I leave out for them.

One of the many bunnies in the “Bunnies and Blooms” exhibit. Bunnies will be eligible for adoption at the conclusion of the special event.

As I sat in one of my usual spots, I began to contemplate (as I am so oft to do) about my life and where I should go from here. My interests seem to take me in so many different ways, but so often don’t provide me the ability to thrive as I or others would want or expect of me. Much like this serendipitous path that I am traveling on this very day, I never quite know what is to happen next. Many strive for stability. An endeavor that I cannot fully fault or say that I don’t desire myself. However, in those situations I have often found myself to become a victim of normalcy. A victim of the day to day to day. Clocking in and clocking out. Bagel, salad, dinner, and repeat.  Is it a crime to want something more out of this life? We only have one opportunity to experience a trip on this spinning rock. Is it wrong to want something that will bring us joy? Is it wrong to want something more?

Calliandra haematocephala

I look at my watch and realize that it is time to go. There was only one pre-planned activity for this glorious Groundhog Day: The 30th Anniversary showing of the film Groundhog Day. Despite my love of the holiday, I really only began to watch the film with anything that could be defined as “regularity” a few years ago. The movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell was often quoted in our house growing up. Murray’s direction of “don’t drive angry” said to the famous groundhog halfway through the movie was said so often in our house that it could be on our family’s coat of arms.

I had never seen Groundhog Day in the cinema before today and was fortunate to see it with a fair number of other people in attendance. For a fleeting moment, I was nervous bringing Murray in with me. However, this fear was quickly abated with the realization that if any group of people were going to be welcoming of my own groundhog it would be these people.

Murray even got his own seat for the movie. Not be design. I would never buy a separate seat for a puppet…more than once.

Being more than familiar with the film, the fact that people were quoting the lines of the movie with or before the lines were said aloud did not phase me greatly. The movie has many great, quotable lines. I did think of how it would be for the audience member that was seeing it for the first time, potentially unaware of the movie entirely until they came in. An audience member that had no idea that they were seeing an anniversary showing with a room full of people that knew the film by heart. I wondered what their mental state would have been as they watched the movie with an audience that mysteriously knew every lines before they were even said. Would they think that they had stumbled into some bizarre universe themselves? A universe where movies were enjoyed only by those that had precognition of what was to be said and done. Was Groundhog Day a personal cautionary tale for their own oncoming and consuming madness?

We are now at the end of the day and what a wonderful Groundhog Day it was. Somewhere along the travels, I came to realize that the unconsciously chosen theme of the day was the letter “B.” Blueberries, Bones, Bunnies, Blooms and Bill Murray. I hope that I will forever embrace the absurdity of this day. Reveling in the unfounded hope that one weather prognosticating groundhog can inspire.

Happy Groundhog Day and Don’t Drive Angry.

Murray and I in front of an Apollo 11 space suit at the Museum of Natural History and Science at the Cincinnati Museum Center.