Butterflies–and more–at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

A right whale of a skeleton!

You’ve all had a chance to see how beautiful Santa Barbara is on the outside, so today we’re going inside SB—and deep into western America’s past, too—on a visit to our museum of Natural History. It turns out there’s still time to catch the tail end of not one but two dynamic shows the museum is presenting until next Sunday : “Butterflies Alive” & “Dinomania”, and the latter is a complete, fossil-licious surprise to this seeker of aging caterpillars.

What a big caterpillar!

I’m pretty sure if we play by the rules, though, and keep an eye out for errant butterflies and dinosaurs underfoot; sticking to the “Path” as outlined by the late, great Ray Bradbury in his short story: “The Sound of Thunder”, both butterfly and animatronic T-Rex should be none the worse for our visit.

You can find “The Sound of Thunder” inside this anthology. The science fiction features T-Rex and Butterflies! Go figure…

Visiting the 800–1000 butterflies and moths flitting about the outdoor meshed enclosure is a no brainer temptation, all right, but the discovery of these extinctly & distinctly separate small-brainers lurking around the Fleischmann Auditorium merits a minute or two delay. After all, the chance to detour into earth’s late Cretaceous Period is a fleeting opportunity, too. Continue reading →…