Lost and Fond: Urban Adventures

We recently returned to Ohio for a nephew's birthday. While we were in town, we also arranged to meet a couple of my aunts (and two grandchildren of one of those aunts) at the Franklin Park Conservatory.

I think something's hiding up there.

We happened to arrive moments before they released several South American butterflies into one of the habitat rooms. It was impressive to see the array of color and size variations among the species. One of them had wings that were almost transparent, and spent most of its time clinging to the shoulder of the woman releasing the butterflies, so that it always looked to be the same color as her shirt.

My aunt eventually convinced this one to land on her hand, but that shot didn't focus as well.

There were also several installed art pieces by Aurora Robson, who makes sculptures from plastic debris recovered from beaches and waterways. Kamilo, seen below, is made from plastic collected on a beach in Hawaii, and contains no hardware or adhesives to hold the structure together--plastic fishing line was cleaned and sorted by color, then used to tie everything in place. The colors shown in the sculpture are all as they were in the recovered plastic. Nothing has been painted or dyed.

We identified toothbrushes, several bottles, and plastic army men, among other debris.

Some specimens were more patient for cameras than others.

This was one of the largest species of butterfly we saw. It was brown on the underwing...

And blue on top. I was pretty proud of getting this shot from below, without the aid of my viewfinder.

Of course, the conservatory has several other rooms, sorted by habitat. The rainforest had three macaws in a cage, and lots of orchids. The desert had lots of the cacti I love, and the Himalayan room had a train set populated with nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters.

After a snack on the lawn outside, we drove further into Columbus to site of the old Deaf School, which now has a small park and topiary garden. Instead of the usual zoo animals, this topiary has been crafted to reproduce A Sunday Afternoon on the Ile de la Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat. A plaque shows a reproduction of the painting, and where to stand to view the full effect.