ABC Wednesday—Z is for "zebra"

No, I haven't been on safari (or even
to the zoo).  This is one of the wonderful
dioramas at The Museum of Natural History.
When I was a kid, I thought it was just
like being right there on the African plain.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Theme Thursday—complex

There's nothing simple about this large quartz crystal,
just one item in the American Museum of Natural History's
vast collection of gems (3,700 and almost all on display)
and minerals (90,000 and there's no way
they can show you all of those—but what's out there
is pretty amazing, as you can see).

[To see more that's complex, visit Mrsupole's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—Q is for "quartz"

This amazing chunk of quartz can be seen at—
where else?—the Museum of Natural History.
Almost all of the 3,700 gems in their 
collection are on display, but only 3 percent 
of the 90,000+ minerals.  That's a lot of rocks!


[To see more abc Wednesday, go here.]

Photo Hunt—"sturdy"

This triceratops looks pretty sturdy—and yet . . .


[To see more of the Saturday 
Photo Hunt, visit Sandi's meme.]

abc wednesday —D is for "dinosaur"

Stegosauros, to be exact.  This mama and her baby 
can be found at the Museum of Natural History. 
In a word: Wow. (This is my 6th D post for  
ABC Wednesday, and I can hardly believe 
I haven't shown you this before.) 
To see more abc Wednesday, go here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

Yikes!—where's the bug spray?
This cool (or creepy—your choice)) model of
an anapheles mosquito has been on display
at the Museum of Natural History since 1917.


[To see more shadows, go here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

I found this guy hanging around the Museum
of Natural History. It's a Japanese spider
crab (Macrocheira kampferi), which can be
13 feet (4 meters) from the tip of one
outstretched leg to another. Pretty impressive—
and it throws a mean shadow too!


[To see more Sunday shadows, go to Tracy's great meme.]

I f

Balaenoptera musculus

aka the great blue whale, which can be 100 feet
long and weigh as much as 200 tons!
This one lives at the Museum of Natural History,
of course—one of my favorite places in NYC.


[To see more blue things, visit Sally's meme.]

Thursday Challenge — "hard"

I recently visited the Museum of Natural History,
where I found this hard thing:  It's the Star of India,
a 563-carat star sapphire that was donated to
the museum in 1901 by J. P. Morgan.  It was stolen
 in 1964 (at which time it was uninsured and "protected" by
an alarm with a dead battery!).  The thief was caught, the gem
recovered (from a locker in a Miami bus station), and
I assume they've taken better care of this treasure since then.
[To see more of this challenge, go here.]