Monday Snapshot: The Comfortable Magic at the Museum of Natural History

I've lost count of how many times I've visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, but I can tell you this: It never gets old for me.

There's something equally comforting and eerily magical about visiting the Hall of African Mammals and seeing the wise, old face of the lion--again. He's my favorite animal in the whole museum (with a respectful nod to the 94-foot-long, 21,000-pound Blue Whale that somehow hovers weightlessly above us).

The museum itself is a study in opposites. It alternates between darkness and golden light. (If I had to pick one color for it, I'd pick cinnamon.) It's crowded--always!--but as you study the tiniest details of the exquisite dioramas, a part of you fades into them and it feels like you're the only person in the world.

I visited the museum this past Saturday with my children--not for the first time. I think I've lost count of their visits as well. As they dashed from one diorama to another, they were mesmerized, balanced in a place of peacefulness and wonder. I felt it, too. It's a warm feeling that washes over me every time I walk through the doors.

I hope the week ahead is full of peaceful wonder for you.

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Joyful gift ideas...

Start off the new year with a new skill: My photography e-course, "How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You" will be running again this January! Save $15 with the Early Bird Discount if you enroll before Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at 11:59 pm EST. (If giving the course as a gift, please let me know the name and email of the student in the PayPal comment section at checkout.) Click here for details and registration.

My favorite photographs (framed and unframed) are for sale here!

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