My favorite place on Earth! So much so that I was a Teaching Volunteer once! It was only fitting that I make a trip there with friends in tow. We were in luck because this week marks the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to New York City. So the museum had some pretty cool special exhibits up.

Theodore Roosevelt is closely associated with the American Museum of Natural History. He’s also my favorite president, so please excuse me while I gush about him. As a young man and after he left office in 1909, he contributed many specimens (which are still on display!) for both study and display. As such, he’s got a rotunda, a small exhibit (under renovation) and a huge statue in front.

Pretty baller for a dude who was sickly as a kid and a four eyes like me!

Inside is where all the cool stuff is. I didn’t photograph the dioramas because it’s so dim in there. Plus I have a thing about not looking too much like a tourist. *wink* Plus the cooler stuff was the Cherry Blossom festival!

We tried our hand at Japanese brush painting. Mine wasn’t very good (or dark enough to photograph) but my friends, Erik and Tina, made better efforts.

We also saw some really intricate examples of origami.

This was made using 30 pieces of paper

30 pieces of paper and none of it glued together. Even the “pot” is made out of paper. It looked so delicate and so real in person. I love origami and I keep meaning to try doing more of it. As a kid, I loved making origami stars and kept them in a jar. They looked kinda cool, actually.

The best part was that we got to learn how to WEAVE! I was so excited to see that they had several looms set up.

Tina and Erik weaving

We each tried our hand at weaving and we all agreed that it was fun and addictive. The rosettes in the background were made out of the fabric that visitors were helping to make. They will be attached to woven scarves and donated to the people of Japan. The nice folks teaching us were from New York City’s first Saori weaving arts studio, Loop of the Loom. If I still lived in the area I’d probably sign up for their two hour workshop. As it is, I’m trying to talk myself out of getting too into weaving. I have enough things that I want to do and not enough hours in the day that I don’t really need to add something else to the mix.

It’s been a fun vacation back in the old ‘hood but I am so glad to be home in Nashville.